The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

Adam Brown · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:38 pm Post subject:

The Eric Liddell Centre is one of the church buildings at 'Holy corner'.

It was recently renovated / converted and is no longer a church or church hall but is used by a Christian charity. I assume the windows were being done at the same time as the recent building work.

Adam

spoons · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:17 pm Post subject:

You can actually see the windows on their website. http://www.ericliddell.org/ scroll to bottom and click on stained glass.

dhubthaigh · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:24 pm Post subject:

Great pictures and information.

spoons · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:52 pm Post subject:

DelBoy · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:08 pm Post subject:

The Lismore rugby club in Portobello unveiled a War Memorial roll to the 27 members of the club who died in the great war.

Derek.

ADP · Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 467 Location: Edinburgh

DelBoy · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 1:52 am Post subject:

Oh well, this can go under lost/destroyed memorials then Sad

"...there was after all, a flaw in the lease, and the ground was let for house-building. We found, without any warning whatsoever, foundations for two bungalows on our pitch and further-more, we received instructions to remove our pavilion or it would be moved for us! As it happened, a team of demolition contractors razed it to the ground and the only item that was salvaged was the boiler."

Derek.

Adam Brown · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:22 am Post subject:

Note that the original pavillion was also a memorial.

This is a real shame because Portobello is one of the few towns in Scotland without a civic war memorial.

Although saying that if they were former Royal High pupils I don't know how many were from Portobello.

Adam

ADP · Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 467 Location: Edinburgh

Adam Brown · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:11 pm Post subject:

ADP

Yes, Duddingston does cover Portobello but there was some debate locallly up until the late 1920's about erecting another one in Portobello. It came to nothing though.

Thanks

Adam

Merseman · Joined: 07 Aug 2013 Posts: 327 Location: Duns, Berwickshire

Bump.

Weekend past was Doors Open Day in Edinburgh and - having a penchant for architecture and enjoying an opportunity to see inside buildings closed to the public most of the time - I usually make a trip up both days. During the course of the weekend, I visited an unusually large number of chapels and churches and with my experience from having done all the memorials in Berwickshire was often spotting war memorials. I was having a look on here & UKNIWM just now to see if I could find out some more about those I could recall: and was surprised that actually none of them are on either!

These are the ones I can remember seeing:

Priestfield Parish Church beside Pollock Hall: 3 boards and 1 plaque, WWI & WWII memorials respectively for this church (formerly called 'Rosehall') and the demolished Prestonfield church (stood at the junctions of Dalkeith Road, Lady Road and Cameron Toll) - all on the north side of the chancel

City of Edinburgh Methodist Church corner of Nicolson Square: 2 plaques, WWI & WWII - on the south wall of the floor space; WWI Roll of Honour - on the north corner of the gallery

Roxy Assembly (theatre/comedy venue) formerly Lady Glenorchy's South Church on Roxburgh Place, east of Old College: 1 tablet, WWI memorial - very impressive in marble on the south wall partly obscured behind stage

St Martins Episcopal Church, Dalry Road, formerly Baptist and before that Congregationalist: 2 plaques - tucked away in the west stairwell

St Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church, Constitution Street Leith: an interesting arrangement, with a replica of the Lourdes Grotto being the WWI memorial and a statue of an angel in the garden being the WWII one

Greenbank Parish Church, Morningisde: stained glass window and plaque - in entrance

(I was also at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Portobello it was the first one I visited on the Saturday morning... I have a feeling there was some kind of war memorial but I can't remember for sure or picture where it was).

I'm sure there was also a memorial to Scouts in one, maybe Priestfield - I can't remember.

I visited 13 churches, over the 2 days. Of those... 9 are still in use, one of which wa post-war; 1 is preserved and had no memorial that I saw; and 3 have been takenover by commerical use of which 2 are internally gutted.

So by proportion a very substantial number weren't on here or UNIWM.

Now obviously these may be of interest to those based in Edinburgh, but I was more struck by the fact that this 'slice' probably means that there are dozens if not into 3 figures of Edinburgh church memorials which have not yet been identified.

Most of these could be in churches of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, Church of Scotland. Then I'd imagine most of the rest would be in churches in the Edinburgh Diocese, Scottish Episcopal Church, and the equivalent Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. (As I recall: a contributor here has already done the Baptist churches).

Could there be any way to 'tap' the current higher profile being generated by the 1914 Centenary, and the approach of Remembrance Day, to try to get many of these churches to identify and submit their own memorials? I found the clerk of the Presbytery of Duns very helpful in my Berwickshire project, and Edinburgh has the advantage of a full-time Presbytery staff... as do many of the individual churches themselves, infact, with full-time or part-time church officers. Perhaps under SMRG or WMT initiative? If there was an appeal passed-down to congregations from their upper body, then a central point-of-contact to which officials could E-mail / post photos, lots of them might do so.

Anyway just an idea. It was just startling to realise quite how many might be out there waiting to be discovered and recorded... Thankfully very few city churches are closing unlike in some rural areas, so at least the risk of loss is reduced.

Kenny

Merseman · Joined: 07 Aug 2013 Posts: 327 Location: Duns, Berwickshire

I should add that the Venues Manager at Roxy Assembly was very helpful and we chatted for a while about the buildings former use as a church and the fact some of the old 'fittings' had survived. (Along the south wall there were evidently 4 plaques at one time of which the lefthand pair have gone but the righthand pair - to an old minister and a lady as I recall - remain).

At this point Caroline observed there was still an old war memorial tablet, behind the stage. It was very substantial, the size of a large table - listing dozens of men's name, rank and unit, in black lettering on white marble.

She was happy for someone from the SWMP to visit it and photograph it if they were interested. They've a website with contact details:
http://www.assemblyfestival.com/roxy/index.php

So, if any of you who count Edinburgh as your patch are interested, do go ahead, you'll be welcomed.

Roxburgh Place Chapel-of-Ease was acquired by that congregation known as Lady Glenorchy's in 1856. A few years after they lost their original site to the expansion of Waverley Station. It was rebuilt in 1900 then renamed Lady Glenorchy's South at the great reunion of 1929 (as Lady Glenorchy's Free atop Leith Walk became known as Lady Glenorchy's North).

In 1959 it united with the congregation of Trinity College & Moray Knox on Jeffrey Street as "Holy Trinity", in the Roxburgh Place building... However, in 1969 the congregation was 'transported' in the church law sense, out to Wester Hailes. Evidently their memorial was not 'transported' in the literal sense!

Their building on Roxburgh Place was sold to the University of Edinburgh - I believe it was used as an exam hall and for storage. Then it was passed to a charity "Edinburgh University Settlement" who rented it out to student theatrical productions and Fringe Festival events as the "Roxy Arthouse". But EUS went bust a few years ago and the building was sold to Assembly who run various Festival venues.

Adam Brown · Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:13 pm Post subject:

Kenny

Great feedback and a fairly long list to work through.

A top-tip that you should always take along a camera on a Doors Open Day!

Edinburgh is my patch but because of family and work commitments it's difficult for me to get to churches except on something like DoD. Hopefully others can step up and help.

Since you have seen them recently I think we can start a new thread for each with *photographs required* in the title.

Adam

IanA · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 949

I was looking at the Edinburgh University memorial in the Old College yesterday and took some photos. I've been looking for a thread for it on this site and can't find one - I can't believe it's been missed so, presumably, I'm going glaikit. Anyone confirm?

Ian

DerekR · Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 8:17 am Post subject:

Ian, I had been told that there wasn't one.
There is a thread somewhere which states this (I think!)
_________________

Time but th' impression stronger makes, As streams their channels deeper wear.