Canongate Kirk - Edinburgh

The Kirk of the Canongate - or Canongate Kirk - serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town.

It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland.

The parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. It is also the parish church of Edinburgh Castle, even though the Castle is detached from the rest of the parish.

There is ongoing media speculation that Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, will marry fiancé Mike Tindall at the church on 30th of July 2011, although this has not been confirmed by any official source.

The church was founded in 1688 and completed in 1691. The master mason in charge was James Smith. A plaque on the front of the church bears witness to it having been built through a large bequest from a local merchant.

?In 1688 King James VII ordained that the Mortification of Thos. Moodie , granted in 1649 to build a Church , should be applied to the erection of this structure?

Previously the residents of the Canongate had used the Abbey Church adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but King James VII ordered the construction of the new Kirk of the Canongate, allowing the Abbey Church to be converted into a Chapel for the Order of the Thistle. (The current Thistle Chapel is attached to St Giles' Cathedral).

You can read more about the church HERE.