Hope Park Chapel
| Hope Park Chapel | |
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| Address | 89 Clerk Street Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 55°56′29″N 3°10′54″W / 55.94139°N 3.18167°WCoordinates: 55°56′29″N 3°10′54″W / 55.94139°N 3.18167°W |
| Capacity | 900 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1823 |
| Reopened | 1979 |
| Architect | Robert Brown |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Queen's Hall is a 900-capacity music venue, situated on Clerk Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally built in 1823 as Hope Park Chapel, it was converted to its current role in 1979 and was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 6 July 1979.
It now plays host to all types of live music, and presents approximately 200 performances every year. It is the year-round Edinburgh performance home of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and also plays an important role for the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.
The Kirk Session of St Cuthbert investigated the southern districts of the parish and found that for a population of 20,250 people, there were only 6,274 seats at places of worship. An appeal was launched, the site was located and the Edinburgh architect Robert Brown (d.1832) was appointed to design the new church. He was responsible for laying out some of Edinburgh's urban extension and designing buildings such as the Easter Coates development, including Melville Street, Coates Crescent and Manor Place. The original cost of the building was £6,111, and in 1834 it was renamed the Newington Parish Church. The Forster and Andrews organ was installed in 1873 and was only the second organ introduced into an established church in Edinburgh.
Towards the end of the century, Victorian modifications were made to the interior of the building. Tinted glass was put in the windows, the pulpit was lowered, the high box pews were replaced with more comfortable seating, and the overall number of seats was reduced. During this time, Newington Parish Church became a fashionable kirk for owners of the new villas in the southside of Edinburgh.
The reunification of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church meant that there were now 13 congregations between the Meadows and the Queen's Park, south of the old city wall. In 1932 the General Assembly reunited the parishes of Newington and St Leonard's. The original St Leonard's was sold to the Church of Christ for £3,000 (it is now St. Margaret's and St. Leonard's Catholic Church) and the money used to create a new development which is now the bar area. It was designed by J. Jeffrey Wardell and opened on 8 December 1934. A declining congregation led to the closure of Newington and St Leonard's Church on 31 July 1976.
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