The Tron Kirk in Edinburgh's High StreetEngraving of the kirk as it looked before 1785The stone spire of Tron Kirk by R & R DicksonThe Tron in 2012The rear of the kirk in Hunter Square has become a popular gathering placeStained glass inside Tron Kirk
The Tron Kirk is a former principal parish church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a well-known landmark on the Royal Mile. It was built in the 17th century and closed as a church in 1952.[why?] Having stood empty for over fifty years, it was used as a tourist information centre for several years in the mid 2000s and, more recently,[when?] was the site of the Edinburgh World Heritage Exhibition and John Kay’s book and gift shop.
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 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:
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 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 by the citizens of Edinburgh in 1641, and known as "Christ's Kirk at the Tron". It was built for the South-East parish, one of the four parishes of Edinburgh after the Scottish Reformation 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, 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, citizens of Edinburgh Old Town, 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 was in Edinburgh.
1767 to 1788 - John Drysdale (1718-1788) twice Moderator in 1773 and 1784
1789 to 1831 - William Simpson (1744-1831), 42 years service with Tron
1832 to 1860 - John Hunter (1788-1866) son of Andrew Hunter first charge (see above) declined post of Moderator[2]
The second charge at Tron was abolished in 1860 due to the Annuity Tax Act.[clarification needed][2]
Notable events
The memoirist Elisabeth West worshipped here when William Erskine was the minister and he died in May 1692. Erskine's replacement was George Meldrum and he advised her to keep a record and her diary is an insight into the Tron's history.[3]
In 1697, Thomas Aikenhead, 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.[4]
The Tron, as it is commonly called,[6] was ordered to be built by King Charles I when he decided that St Giles' 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 and Gothic elements and was inspired by contemporary Dutch architecture.[7] 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[8]) was constructed to replace the original, destroyed in the Great Edinburgh Fire of November 1824. The Tron closed as a church in 1952 and was acquired by the City of Edinburgh Council, the congregation moving to a new church in the Moredun area of the city.
The church was subsequently left to decay, and the interiors were eventually gutted.[9] 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 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 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.[10]
Between 2018 and early 2020, the Tron Kirk hosted an exhibition which showcased the Edinburgh Old and New Towns UNESCO World Heritage Site, 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.
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.[13]
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.[14]
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, Scottish Design Exchange.[15]
Related Research Articles
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The Tron Kirk of Edinburgh, by the Reverend D. Butler, MA, Minister of the Tron parish, Edinburgh, 1906.
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