The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is a well-known landmark on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

. It was built in the 17th century and closed as a church in 1952. Having stood empty for over fifty years, it was used as a tourist information centre for several years in the mid 2000's and, more recently, was the site of the Edinburgh World Heritage Exhibition and John Kay’s book and gift shop. The name comes from the weighing beam ("tron" in Scots), serving the public market on the

, which stood outside until around 1800. It is the only Scottish church where five consecutive ministers each served at least once as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

(eight if including second charge ministers).

Archaeology and pre-church history

Archaeological investigations, including excavations and 3D surveys, in 1974, 1983 and 2006 shed light on the area before the construction of the church in the 1630s. The results evidenced that the area was occupied by

tenements A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

before the church was built. It appears that they were built during the 15th and 16th centuries and wiped out all traces of earlier medieval settlements. Documentary research undertaken at the same time was able to provide a picture of the occupants of the buildings all the way back to the late 15th century. The church was built over: * Marlin’s Wynd * Peebles Wynd * Taverner's Close The church floor was removed in 1974 to allow the excavation of the entire floor area. This was retained as a piece of publicly visible urban archaeology until the building was refloored in 2004. The public could view the remnants of the basements, the paved closes, and drainage channels in a

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

style, viewing from a walkway around the inner perimeter.

Religious history

The foundation stone was laid on 4 March 1637. The church was formally opened and dedicated to

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

by the citizens of Edinburgh in 1641, and known as "Christ's Kirk at the

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...

". It was built for the South-East

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, one of the four parishes of Edinburgh after the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

of 1560. Prior to the erection of this new church, parishioners of the North-West parish worshipped in St. Giles' Cathedral. An English traveller, visiting the Tron in 1705, recorded his impression in his diary:—"The Nobility generally resort to the Tron Church, which is the principally (sic) and the Lord High Commissioner has a Throne erected in it, in a very spatious Gallery, on his right hand sits the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

, and on his left the Lord Provost of Edenborough." There were special grants of pews made by the Edinburgh Town Council to noblemen, Senators of the

College of Justice The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, an ...

, citizens of

Edinburgh Old Town The Old Town ( sco, Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-cent ...

, Principals and Professors of the University. A full list of seat-holders has been preserved for 1650, the year of the battle of Dunbar, and for 1745, when

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

was in Edinburgh.

Ministers

*1641 to 1649 -

William Colvill William Colvill, sometimes spelt William Colville (c.1612–1675) was a 17th-century Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland and scholar and was the Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1662 to 1675. Life Colvill was educated ...

(d.1675) who had translated from

Trinity College Church Trinity College Kirk was a royal collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. The kirk and its adjacent almshouse, Trinity Hospital, were founded in 1460 by Mary of Gueldres in memory of her husband, King James II who had been killed at th ...

a quarter mile to the north-east *1648 to 1662 - Robert Laurie also translated from Trinity College Church *1663 to 1672 - John Paterson *1672 to 1675 - William Annan *1675 to 1680 - James Lundie, translated to

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

in 1680 *1681 - Robert Bruce, dismissed after a few months for refusing to take the Solemn Oath *1683 to 1687 - George Trotter MA (d.1687) *1687 to 1691 - Alexander Malcolm, went to England following a dispute and failed to return *1687 to 1692 - William Erskine MA *1695 to 1707 - William Crichton twice Moderator 1692 and 1697 *1707 to 1729 -

William Wishart :''See also William Wishart (disambiguation)'' William Wishart (or Wischard) (died 28 May 1279) was a 13th-century Bishop of St. Andrews. He was postulated to the see of St. Andrews (''Cell Rígmonaid'' or ''Cill Rìmhinn'') while holding the ...

(d.1729) five times Moderator *1730 to 1785 -

George Wishart George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic. George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow, ...

, son of preceding, Moderator in 1748, the church's longest serving minister *1786 to 1809 - Andrew Hunter of Barjarg (1743-1809) moderator in 1792 *1809 to 1845 - Rev Prof

Alexander Brunton Alexander Brunton FRSE FSA (2 October 1772 - 9 February 1854) was a Scottish minister in the Church of Scotland who rose to its highest rank, Moderator of the General Assembly in 1823. He was a noted academic, as Professor of Hebrew and Orie ...

moderator in 1823 *1845 to 1867 - Rev Dr Maxwell Nicholson DD *1868 to 1873 - Rev Dr James MacGregor DD *1874 to 1875 - John Barclay MA *1876 to 1881 - William Cruickshank Eddie Jamieson (1839-1881) *1881 to 1885 - John Methven Robertson *1885 to 1911 - David Morrison (1838-1911) *1902 to 1907 -

Dugald Butler Dugald Butler (1862–1926) was a 19th/20th century Scottish minister, remembered as a prolific author on a variety of subjects, but mainly historical, most of which are still in print. He was minister of several important churches including th ...

*1908 to ? - John Wallace

Second Charge

The church and congregation were of a scale which required a "second charge" for additional services: *1650 to 1655 - John Stirling MA translated to the newly built

Lady Yester's Church Lady Yester's Kirk was a parish church of the Church of Scotland and one of the burgh churches of Edinburgh. Founded in 1647, it served the south-eastern part of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town until its union with Greyfriars Kirk in 19 ...

*1663 to 1665 - James Lundie MA *1665 to 1676 - Robert Mortimer *1677 to 1682 - John Farquhar *1682 to 1683 - George Trotter moved to first charge (see above) *1683 to 1689 - John Strachan MA (d.1699) *1691 to 1709 -

George Meldrum George Meldrum (1634–1709) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland who twice served as Moderator of the General Assembly, the highest position in the Scottish Church. He was one of the prominent Scottish Covenanters. Life He was ...

, twice Moderator 1698 and 1703, the first Second Charge to become Moderator *1710 to 1713 - John Steedman *1715 to 1741 - Matthew Wood *1745 to 1753 -

, Principal of

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

, Moderator in 1745 *1754 to 1766 - John Jardine (1715-1766) *1767 to 1788 - John Drysdale (1718-1788) twice Moderator in 1773 and 1784 *1789 to 1831 - William Simpson DD (1744-1831), 42 years service with Tron *1832 to 1860 - John Hunter DD (1788-1866) son of Rev Andrew Hunter first charge (see above) declined post of Moderator The second charge at Tron was abolished in 1860 due to the Annuity Tax Act.

Notable Events

The memoirist

Elisabeth West Elisabeth West (fl. 1690s – 1709) was a Scottish servant and memoirist in Edinburgh. She was inspired to create her record by Rev George Meldrum of the Tron Kirk, who would later become the Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. ...

worshipped here when William Erskine was the minister and he died in May 1692. Erskine's replacement was

and he advised her to keep a record and her diary is an insight into the Tron's history. In 1697,

Thomas Aikenhead Thomas Aikenhead ( bapt. 28 March 1676 – 8 January 1697) was a Scottish student from Edinburgh, who was prosecuted and executed at the age of 20 on a charge of blasphemy under the Act against Blasphemy 1661 and Act against Blasphemy 1695. ...

, an 18-year-old student, became the last person in Scotland to be executed for the crime of blasphemy after a fellow student reported that he had blasphemed against God outside the Tron Kirk. Aikenhead was prosecuted for saying "I wish I were in that place Ezra calls hell so I could warm myself" as he walked by the kirk on his way back from a night of drinking with some classmates.Thomas Aikenhead
The baptisms and marriages of many Edinburgh luminaries took place in the Tron, one being the marriage of the famous jurist

John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, 2nd Baronet, Lord Fountainhall (baptised 2 August 1646 – 20 September 1722) was one of Scotland's leading jurists who remains to this day an oft consulted authority. He was knighted in 1680 and matriculated his ...

on 21 January 1669, to Janet (1652–1686), daughter of

Sir Andrew Ramsay, Lord Abbotshall Sir Andrew Ramsay, Lord Abbotshall (May 1619 – 17 January 1688), Privy Counsellor, was the first Lord Provost of Edinburgh (as opposed to "Provost" of Edinburgh) and a judge of the Court of Session. Ramsay Gardens and Ramsay Lane in Edinburg ...

, 1st Baronet, and the first

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

, and a Senator of the

(d.1688). On 25 April 1694 Helen (d. 9 January 1714), daughter of

George Ogilvy, 2nd Lord Banff George Ogilvy, 2nd Lord Banff (died March 1668) was member of the old Scottish Parliament, a feudal baron, and a Cavalier. Family The son of Sir George Ogilvy, 1st Lord Banff, and 1st Baronet (1627), by his spouse Janet, daughter of William S ...

(d.1668) by his spouse Agnes, daughter of

Alexander 1st Lord Falconer Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants li ...

, of Halkerstoun, married

Sir Robert Lauder of Beilmouth Sir Robert Lauder of Beilmouth, Knt., (died 24 June 1709) was an armiger, lawyer and Clerk of Exchequer in Scotland. In 1683 he was made a Justice of the Peace for Haddingtonshire. As Robert Lauder of Belhaven he was in the old Scottish parliament ...

in the Tron. Rev John Drysdale, who married Mary Adam, daughter of the famous architect William Adam, was a Minister of the Tron Kirk from 1766 to 1788 and was also twice

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

, though now he is chiefly remembered for his friendship with

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

, the economist. The

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...

met in the Tron from 1830 to 1840—the period of the "Ten Years' Conflict".

Architectural history

The Tron, as it is commonly called, was ordered to be built by King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

when he decided that

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

' was to become the cathedral for the new see of Edinburgh. The land was purchased by the parish from Dr. William Scott, MD, for £1000 Scots. It was erected between 1636 and 1647 to a design by John Mylne, Royal master mason. The design mixed

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

elements and was inspired by contemporary Dutch architecture. The full Chamberlain's Accounts for this project are extant. The width of the building was reduced when both side aisles were removed in 1785 to accommodate the South Bridge and Blair Street leading to Hunter Square. In 1828 a new spire (designed by

R & R Dickson Richard and Robert Dickson (usually simply referred to as R & R Dickson) were brothers, acting as architects in Scotland in the early and mid-19th century. Whilst most of their work is typified by remote country houses they are best known for th ...

) was constructed to replace the original, destroyed in the

Great Edinburgh Fire The Great Fire of Edinburgh was one of the most destructive fires in the history of Edinburgh. It started on Monday, 15 November 1824, and lasted for five days, with two major phases. Sequence of events The fire broke out around 10pm on 15 No ...

of November 1824. The Tron closed as a church in 1952 and was acquired by the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

, the congregation moving to a new church in the

Moredun Moredun is a district in the south-east of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of Liberton, Edinburgh, Liberton, while Craigour is situated just to its north. The estate of Gut-tres or Goodtrees was the family home of Sir James Stew ...

area of the city. The church was subsequently left to decay, and the interiors were eventually gutted. In 1974 archaeological excavations took place under the church which revealed foundations of 16th-century buildings from a long-vanished close, Marlins Wynd, named after a stonemason

Walter Merlioun Walter Merlioun, was a Scottish master mason based in Edinburgh. Working for James IV Merlioun worked on a number of buildings in Scotland including castles and churches for James IV of Scotland. Henry Merlioun, who built Ravenscraig Castle for ...

who lived there in 1500.

Hogmanay

Traditionally the Tron was a place of gathering to celebrate New Year, mainly because of its chiming clock, high on the spire, and visible (and audible) over a wide area. The Tron's position as the traditional focus of

Edinburgh's Hogmanay Edinburgh's Hogmanay is the observance of Hogmanay—the Scottish celebration of the New Year—held in Edinburgh, Scotland. History The annual Hogmanay celebration was originally an informal street party focused on the Tron Kirk in the High ...

celebrations has been greatly diminished in recent years, due to the expansion of the City Council's organised Hogmanay Street Party in the city centre. However, it was announced in November 2012 that this historic venue would re-stake its claim to the city's hogmanay celebrations, with a Festival of the Extraordinary planned to include live music, film screenings and, amongst other things, a mixology masterclass.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Tron is also used as a venue during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, when it has been operated by Just The Tonic and Freestival as a music, comedy and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

venue and cafe.

Edinburgh World Heritage at the Tron

Between 2018 and early 2020, the Tron Kirk hosted an exhibition which showcased the Edinburgh Old and New Towns UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, as well as Scotland’s five other World Heritage Sites. The exhibition aimed to capture the essence of the World Heritage Site in Edinburgh through the voices and opinions of local people. The story was told in a series of videos, quotes, and specially commissioned portraits from the Scottish photographer

Alicia Bruce Alicia Bruce is an Edinburgh-based photographer, lecturer and freelance educator. Early life and education Bruce was born in Aberdeen in 1979. She studied Photography, Film and Imaging at Edinburgh Napier University, graduating in 2006. Care ...

. In Summer 2019, two retail outlets opened within the exhibition: John Kay's Shop, a gift shop specialising in Scottish gifts and books, historic prints and maps; and the Scottish Textiles Showcase.

Scottish Historic Buildings Trust

In May 2021, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) announced plans to restore the building and give it "a new and meaningful lease of life". The SHBT is to conduct a feasibility study. Once funding has been secured, the SHBT will be granted a 125-year lease on the building. In June 2022, the SHBT announced that, from 1 July 2022, the building would be used on a short-term basis as a retail outlet by a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

, Scottish Design Exchange.

References

* ''The Tron Kirk of Edinburgh'', by the Reverend D. Butler, MA, Minister of the Tron parish, Edinburgh, 1906. * ''The Buildings of Scotland - Edinburgh'', by Colin McWilliam, John Gifford, & David Walker,

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Edinburgh Hogmanay

{{Edinburgh Festival Fringe Religious buildings and structures completed in 1647 Churches in Edinburgh Royal Mile Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh 1647 in Scotland Hogmanay 1647 establishments in Scotland Former churches in Scotland Listed churches in Edinburgh