Kirk of the Canongate

Kirk of the Canongate
Location	Canongate, Edinburgh
Country	Scotland
Denomination	Church of Scotland
Architecture
Status	Active
Functional status	Parish church
Years built	1688–1691
Clergy
Minister(s)	The Revd Neil N. Gardner

The Kirk of the Canongate, or Canongate Kirk, serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town, in Scotland. It is a 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. The wedding of Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, and Mike Tindall, took place at the church on 30 July 2011.

The Canongate was a separate burgh before it was formally absorbed by Edinburgh in 1856. By the late 1970s, the lower part of the Royal Mile, including the Canongate, had become unfashionable and run down. The local population was declining. The Kirk was threatened with closure, which was successfully resisted by the minister and congregation. Since then, circumstances have changed radically - notably with the construction of new flats in the vicinity as well as the new Scottish Parliament building.

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"

(In this quotation, the word Mortification is an historic term from Scottish Law meaning "the disposal of property for religious or (since the Reformation) other charitable or public purposes, or a document embodying this".)

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