The Old Saint Paul’s ‘Stations’

The Old Saint Paul’s Stations were acquired in 1995 in a poor state of repair. They were restored by the Conservation Department of the National Museums of Scotland in March 1996. The stations were installed in Old Saint Paul’s on 23 March 1996, and used for the first time on Palm Sunday 1996.

The stations comprise lime-wood reliefs mounted on an oak base surmounted with the cross, and are to be found on the walls of the nave.

View a series of Meditations on each Station of the Cross →

Stations of the Cross through History

The term ‘Stations of the Cross’ refers both to a series of fourteen representations of events on Christ’s journey to the Cross and the popular devotion of passing before them in meditation on Christ’s sacrifice.

The devotion reflects the practice of pilgrims to Jerusalem who, from earliest times to the current day, have followed the way of the Cross from the house of Pilate to Calvary and wished to re-enact this journey on their return home.

The traditional pilgrimage route in Jerusalem starts at the site of Pilate’s Judgement Hall in the Antonia and follows the Via Dolorosa through the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem to come to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre on Calvary Hill.

When the Franciscans received custody of the holy places in medieval times, they encouraged the erection of tableaux in their own churches depicting the sacrificial journey. The custom spread widely to other churches.

The content and number of the stations has varied widely throughout the ages, but the number was settled as fourteen under Clement XII in the 18th century.  Eight of the stations directly reflect incidents recorded in the Gospels; the remaining six are based on inferences from the Gospel or from pious legend.

With the recovered theology of the paschal mystery stressing the integral unity of Christ’s death and resurrection, a fifteenth station representing the resurrection has frequently been added to the series.

The Old Saint Paul’s Archives

The Old Saint Paul’s archives reflect our long history of worship, social care and structural development.

Extensive written records of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials exist from 1735 onwards and there are other minute, seat rental and account ledgers, congregational rolls, and service and offertory records from the late 18th century.

An annotated catalogue of all this material has been prepared which shows details of the date ranges and contents of each book.

Photographs of the church, clergy and events at OSP cover the late 19th century, from 1895 to the present, and show the rich diversity of worship and social events that haven taken place here.

Many social outreach programmes are well illustrated, and in particular, the ‘Saint Saviour’s Child Garden’ project, which took place from 1906 to1977.

Plans of the various structural modifications to the church show how its architecture has developed over the past 125 years. Many of the fixtures and fittings in the church have been photographed and documented, putting them in the historical context of major gifts to the church.

Further Information

Please send enquiries about the archives to . 

About this Site

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Booking the Church Hall

The church hall is a light and airy space comfortably accommodating in excess of 120 people. It is well equipped with power sockets, localised heating, tables and chairs. The toilets were upgraded in 2002 for accessibility. A fully equipped modern kitchen with wide serving area is also available.

Old Saint Paul’s church hall

The space is highly flexible for a variety of uses. Current uses include dance sessions, concerts, band rehearsals, public meetings and social occasions. During the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe the hall is converted into a performance space as Venue 45.

How to Book

The hall is available to let at most times for reasonable rates. Please note that the hall is never available on Sundays before 2pm (when it is used for parish activities).

For more details about booking the hall, and its availability, please contact the church office by email (or phone, Wednesdays and Fridays).

Regular Service Times

Baptised members of all churches are welcome to receive Holy Communion; all are welcome to receive a blessing at the altar.
An induction loop is fitted to assist those with hearing difficulties.

During Lent 2012 the daily Mass on Wednesday will be at 6.30pm, following Confessions from 6 pm. Morning prayer will be said on Sundays at 10.10am.

Please see Forthcoming Services for details of the next services at Old St Paul's. Don't hesitate to contact us for further information.

The ‘Father’ Henry Willis Organ

There has been a church on the present site of Old Saint Paul’s since 1689 when Alexander Rose, Bishop of Edinburgh, left Saint Giles’ Cathedral, taking with him a number of his congregation; thus began the Scottish Episcopal Church (please see A History of Old Saint Paul’s for more about the church’s historical background).

It is known that the building had an organ by 1712, although this was removed by Bishop Rose in 1716 and eventually found its way to Grantown Episcopal Church. Three further instruments seem to have been in use in Old Saint Paul’s until the present instrument was installed.

The Current Organ

In the mid-19th century the church building became structurally unsound and it was closed in 1873. A new building was completed in 1883; it was extended in 1890 and again in 1905. The present organ was built by ‘Father’ Henry Willis and installed in 1888. It was then presumably typical of Willis’s small instruments of this period: strong and forthright in tone with a robust mechanical action.

Slight modifications were made to this instrument in 1936; it was electrified and enlarged in 1960 when a new console with tab stops was provided. Further tonal modifications and additions were made in 1968.

By the mid 1970s the organ was in need of complete cleaning and the 1960 console was causing problems. In addition, inconsistencies in the tonal scheme had developed over the years. Nicholson’s of Worcester was chosen to rebuild the organ, to replan the specification and to provide a new console.

The work was carried out in conjunction with the then organist, Alistair Pow, and with advice from Roy Massey of Hereford Cathedral. Revoicing in the church was undertaken by Dennis Thurlow of Nicholson’s. Father Willis’s pipework was left untouched: new mixtures were provided on both manuals, and the great trumpet/pedal trombone rank received considerable attention and revoicing. The great dulciana was extended down to 16’ pitch, and several other changes and additions were made. Some repair work was carried out in 2000.

The organ as it now stands is a fine, flexible instrument which accompanies services particularly well and which is also a fine vehicle for much of the solo organ repertoire. Like many chancel organs, it suffers slightly from its position, speaking across the chancel rather than directly into the nave. Nevertheless, it sounds well throughout the building and fulfils its duties admirably.

Full choral services with organ are held every Sunday at 10.30am (High Mass) and 6.30 pm (Solemn Evensong and Benediction), except during July while the choir is on holiday.

Further Information

Please see the organ’s entry in the National Pipe Organ Register website for further details and the instrument’s specification.

See David A. Stewart’s ‘Organs in Edinburgh’ (pub. Edinburgh Society of Organists, 1991) for further information on the early history of organs in Old Saint Paul’s. The above account draws on information from that publication, and also from material provided by Alistair Pow.

The Choir

An introduction to the Old Saint Paul’s Choir, by Director of Music John Kitchen:

SO FAR AS we can tell from the archival material available, Old Saint Paul’s has had a choir for most of its life, perhaps from the late 19th century when the congregation moved into the present building.

The members would have been men and boys. Apparently women were sometimes drafted in to swell the ranks, but were obliged to sing from the Memorial Chapel, since they were not permitted to appear in the choir stalls!  Happily, times have changed. We have recently hung a number of interesting old choir photographs, some dating from the late 19th century, on display at the top of the stairs, just outside the choir vestry.  Please come up and have a look.

Alistair Pow worked hard to build up the choir’s contribution to the liturgy during the 1970s. New music was introduced and recruitment of boys and men was vigorously pursued to great effect.  Around this time the choir also became affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music, and we have in the choir vestry a report from 1975 when the choir was ‘inspected’ by an RSCM official. The numbers recorded are 23 boys and 18 men — rather more than we currently boast.

Leslie Shankland was assistant to Alistair Pow from the 1970s onwards, and eventually took over as Director of Music on Easter Day 1980 when Alistair moved on. Les continued to diversify and extend the choral repertoire, and steadily to raise musical standards.

A Mixed Choir

I became Old Saint Paul’s organist in 1988, working alongside Les for 20 years. During our time, the choir evolved in various ways. By the early 1990s it was clear that we could no longer manage to maintain a treble line of boys alone as we had done in the past. Instead, we followed the lead of our own St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh in building up a treble line of boys and girls (up to about the age of 15 or 16).

Among British Cathedrals, St Mary’s had been pioneering in having a mixed treble line as early as the 1970s. The arrangement worked well at Old Saint Paul’s for several years; ultimately, however, it proved difficult to recruit sufficient trebles, and the next development was to introduce female sopranos and altos. We now have an adult choir of men and women plus a few junior choristers who join the adult choir at some services.

In June 2007, Les Shankland resigned because of family commitments, having given more than 30 years of unstinting service to Old Saint Paul’s.  At that time I took over as Director of Music, and I am assisted by Calum Robertson as organ scholar. Calum was educated at The Edinburgh Academy and has just graduated (in July 2011) with first-class honours from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.  His first-study instrument is clarinet and he has been heard to play his clarinet in several services!  He enrols on a Masters programme at the RSAMD in 2011-12 and will continue as organ scholar during the coming year.

Joining the choir

There is great competition among Edinburgh city-centre churches for student choir members and many churches now offer choral scholarships. For several years now our Vestry has funded four choral scholarships.  At the time of writing, we are looking to find an alto choral scholar, and interested singers are welcome to contact the Director of Music, Dr John Kitchen, for further details.  The rest of our choir members are volunteers, and John is always happy to hear from new volunteers.  Since we sing a wide range of music on minimal rehearsal, good sight-reading skills are essential.

Our junior choristers sing at High Mass with the adult choir generally on three Sundays out of four.  We would very much like to increase the number of our junior choristers; John would be pleased to hear from the parents of children aged 8 years and above who might be interested in joining the choir.

The music we sing

We sing at Mass and Evensong every Sunday, occasionally on weekdays (such as Ascension Day and Corpus Christi) , and at the carol services of Advent and Christmas.  We are particularly busy in Holy Week, when we sing the evocative service of Tenebrae on Holy Wednesday, and at the solemn liturgies of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  Easter Day is everyone’s favourite day of the year:  The Vigil Mass is at 5am, and is celebrated with full musical splendour, as is the 10.30am and Choral Evensong at 6.30pm. 

Week by week, we rehearse on Thursday evenings from 7.30-9pm (the junior choristers attend the first part of this).  Each service is preceded by a short but vital rehearsal.  The repertoire is wide-ranging: Renaissance masses and motets by Palestrina, Byrd and others; Viennese masses by Mozart and Haydn; French masses by Gounod, Widor and Vierne; 17th- and 18th-century music by Purcell, Greene, Charpentier and many others; standard works from the Anglican liturgical tradition by Stainer, Parry, Stanford, Howells; and more recent works, including challenging pieces such as James MacMillan’s ‘Westminster’ Mass. 

Hymns and shorter liturgical items are considered a vitally important part of the services at OSP, and much care is given to their preparation.  Organ music and improvisation also play a significant role in our services.  Much effort is made to integrate liturgy and music as fully as possible; we hope that we succeed most of the time! 

Full details of forthcoming music are found on the website.

Our Liturgical Tradition

Over the years since Old Saint Paul’s humble beginnings in the late 17th century, our worship styles have evolved from secret prayer meetings in an old wool store to something enriched and developed by history across the centuries.

Today we enjoy a rich tradition of liturgy in the high church, Anglo-Catholic style, marked by austere beauty and rich symbolism.  Liturgy at Old Saint Paul’s is fully participatory – whilst the congregation is represented by the choir in the chancel and the servers round the altar, individual members of the congregation also share in reading from the scriptures, leading the prayers, and taking the bread and wine to the altar.  Space is provided at several points during the liturgy for personal devotion and reflection. Liturgy is the offering of the entire assembly of God’s people. 

The Mass (or Eucharist or Lord’s Supper) is at the heart of Christian spiritual life.

Liturgy is also an offering of all the senses, offering back to God’s praise and honour the collective talents we have received – the beauty of visual art, and the harmony of music, together with the offering of incense and lighting of candles.  Early morning and mid-week Masses, celebrated in one of the small chapels, are quiet and reflective.  The main celebration, at 10.30 on Sundays, takes the form of High Mass – when the priest is assisted at the altar by deacon and subdeacon, servers lead the procession, and provide light and incense, and the choir leads the worship with glorious music.  A dedicated Mass book is provided to assist those attending to follow and take part in the liturgy. Normally, the service lasts around 90 minutes.

On festival days, High Mass begins with a procession in which the entire congregation joins.  Processions are joyful expressions of praise and symbolise our common journey of faith.

On Sunday evenings at 6.30pm we offer Solemn Evensong and Benediction.  Evensong follows a form of readings, music and prayer which has resounded through English-speaking cathedrals and churches for over 400 years; it is based on the ancient monastic offices of Vespers and Compline.  It is followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in which we give thanks to God for his sacramental gift to us.  During the winter months Evensong begins with the ceremony of Lucernarium – the lighting of the lamps of eventime.  Normally, the service lasts around 60 minutes.

Old Saint Paul’s is part of the Edinburgh diocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Baptised members of all churches are welcome to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion; all are welcome at the altar for a blessing.

Supporting Old Saint Paul’s

In a normal year, it costs around £173,000 a year to run Old Saint Paul's, or about £3,325 every week. This does not include the costs of any exceptional expenditure; just day to day running costs, and our routine maintenance programme. During financial year 2011-12 we shall be without the service of a stipendiary curate; therefore, our financial position is temporarily improved. Please see the Summary Budget for 2011-12 at the foot of this page.

Regular, Responsible Giving

We ask all members of the congregation to keep their giving under review and to raise it when they can. The Church belongs to us all and we each have a responsibility for its upkeep. Besides, this giving is a very practical, tangible way of showing our commitment to God and to the community in which we live.

We won’t, and don’t, harass our members. Rather, we want everyone to feel such an integral part of this community that each one of us gives according to our means with the same kind of spirit of generosity we would give to any other member of our family.

Ways to Give

Regular giving can be arranged through:

• a standing order to your bank;
• a weekly and/or undated envelope in the collection;
• payroll giving.

You can make online donations through our Work With Us secure payments facility.

Download a copy of our standing order and gift aid declaration form here. PDF 170 Kb

If you are a taxpayer and you sign a Gift Aid declaration, we can claim back tax on your offering (currently 25p for every pound). Gift Aid allows for flexibility in your giving. You only need to sign one form, but can adjust the level of your giving as and when necessary or desired.

You can discuss your giving in confidence with Lynne Niven, the Stewardship Recorder.

Summary Budget for 2011-12

The summary budget for 2011-12 is as follows:

The budget seeks to cover this amount as follows:

For 2011-12 we therefore expect there to be a surplus of £26,080, or about £495 per week. Had we been benefiting from the service of a stipendiary curate, we should be expecting a deficit for the year of £2,800, about £55 per week

Old Saint Paul’s Historical Timeline

This historical timeline provides an overview of Old Saint Paul's history. Please see A History of OSP for more about our history.

A History of Old Saint Paul’s

Old Saint Paul’s is a historic Anglican church in the Catholic tradition. It stands on the site of the original home of Scottish Episcopalianism in Edinburgh. Today, it is a living centre of worship and witness in the heart of Edinburgh.

There have been people worshipping on this site since 1689, when a breakaway group from the old Cathedral of Saint Giles led by Bishop Alexander Rose moved into an old wool store in Carrubber’s Close.

Although the present building dates from the 19th century, Old Saint Paul’s has a history going back 300 years to the beginning of the Scottish Episcopal Church. More than any other church in Scotland the history of Old Saint Paul’s has been the history of the Scottish Episcopal Church itself; often embattled, at times romantic, on occasion triumphant.

1560-1689: The Scottish Reformation

The Reformation came to Scotland in 1560 under John Knox, the first Protestant minister of Saint Giles’ Church. The Scottish Episcopal Church first came into being as a distinct denomination after the Catholic Stuart King James VII (II of England) was deposed during the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. In the new anti-Catholic climate, the Church of Scotland abolished the rule of bishops, the last remaining element of the pre-Reformation Church.

The original congregation of Old Saint Paul’s was a breakaway group from Saint Giles’, which had become the Cathedral of Edinburgh in 1634. The last bishop at Saint Giles’, Alexander Rose, left the Cathedral in 1689 accompanied by much of his flock, finding a new place of worship in an old wool store in Carrubber’s Close; this stood approximately on the present site of Old Saint Paul’s.

1715 and 1745: Jacobite Rebellion

Whilst the Presbyterian Church was loyal to the new Protestant monarchy, the Episcopalians remained staunchly Jacobite, loyal to James and his descendants. Members of Saint Paul’s were in the front line of the Jacobite struggle, several having been in action in the Risings of 1715 and 1745.

Members of Old Saint Paul’s (then known as ‘Saint Paul’s) were in the front line of the Jacobite Risings of the 18th century

Many tales of heroism survive; one member of the congregation brought the news of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s victory at Prestonpans to Edinburgh, shutting the town gates against the defeated Hanoverian army. Another printed the Prince’s banknotes, and Jacobite ladies of the congregation wore the ‘White Cockade’ (the White Rose) and graced the Prince’s ball at Holyroodhouse.

The 18th Century: Years of Persecution

As a result of the Risings, any Episcopal chapel was regarded as a potential bed of treason and repressive laws were passed. In 1719 priests were prohibited from ministering to more than eight people at a time; this seems to have been overcome at Saint Paul’s by conducting worship on two storeys, each being divided into cubicles with one priest ministering in the centre.

After the Jacobites’ defeat at Culloden in 1746, Episcopal clergy ran the risk of imprisonment or deportation to America. It was only after the death of Prince Charlie in 1788 that the association of the Episcopalians with Jacobite treason was shaken off. Penal laws were gradually repealed, and in that year the Scottish Synod resolved that George III would be prayed for in all Episcopal Churches; the first prayers for a Hanoverian monarch that were said in Saint Paul’s were drowned out by groans, sighs, coughing and nose-blowing.

1784: A Bishop for America

Old Saint Paul’s has played a part in the foundation of the US Episcopal Church. The young American Samuel Seabury first worshipped at Saint Paul’s in 1752. In later years he was chosen to become the first Bishop of the United States and returned to Britain to be consecrated. As the prospective bishop of a fledgling republic, Seabury was faced with a choice: consecration in the Church of England required an oath of allegiance to the crown; however, this was not the case in the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Window in the Lady Chapel illustrating the consecration of Samuel Seabury

Remembering his days at Saint Paul’s, he returned to Scotland and was consecrated in 1784 in Aberdeen. His consecration is remembered on a plaque in Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in Edinburgh the Lady Chapel in Old Saint Paul’s is dedicated to Seabury’s memory.

1800-1900: Decline and Revival

In the middle of the 19th Century the liturgy at Saint Paul’s was affected by a variety of influences, most notably by the first emergence of the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement. Conflict over liturgical matters led to a breakaway church being founded, St Columba’s by the Castle.

Structural problems also took their toll: in 1873, the dilapidated Saint Paul’s was closed until the completion of the new building in 1883. The following year, to avoid confusion with another Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in York Place, the Carrubber’s Close church was renamed Old Saint Paul’s; also at this time the Anglo-Catholic movement began to have a more lasting influence on worship in this church.

The Twentieth Century

One figure looms large over the first half of the 20th century, that of Albert Ernest Laurie, who became Rector in 1898 and held this position until his death in 1937. Laurie’s life reflected his intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament - he continued the gradual shift to a more Catholic form of worship and he was a caring and faithful pastor to his flock. He received the Military Cross for his bravery in caring for the wounded at the battle of the Somme, and there are numerous tales of his continued acts of charity to his flock in the Canongate.

In 1989, Old Saint Paul’s celebrated its tercentenary. A joint service with Saint Giles’ Cathedral included a procession up the Royal Mile, retracing the path of Bishop Rose, and High Mass was celebrated in the old Cathedral for the first time in 300 years.

© Copyright Robin McMorran and Old Saint Paul’s Church, 1994, 1998, 2002

Welcome to Old Saint Paul’s

A warm welcome from the Rector of Old Saint Paul’s, Canon Ian Paton:

Welcome to this historic and living congregation in the heart of Edinburgh. This website will help you get a sense of the people and the range of events and activities that make up our Church.

Old Saint Paul’s is one of the original Episcopalian churches in the city of Edinburgh, formed when Bishop Rose and his congregation were forced to leave Saint Giles’ Cathedral at the time of the Presbyterian establishment of the Church of Scotland in 1689.

Since that time, members of the congregation have included people of all walks of life in Scottish history, from supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie to enthusiasts for the modern Scottish Parliament, from the wealthy to the poor, from the conventional to the eccentric. One of the gifts God seems to have given us, in the past and in the present day, is an immense variety of members. Old Saint Paul’s is a kaleidoscope of the faith.

Old Saint Paul’s Liturgy

This great variety of people share something in common - they love the liturgy at Old Saint Paul’s.

The uniquely special services that happen in Holy Week, the most important part of the Christian Year, are profound symbols of Christian faith. There is Palm Sunday, followed by Tenebrae on Wednesday, the High Mass of Maundy Thursday with washing of the feet and stripping of the altars, the Liturgy of Good Friday and the wonderful celebration of High Mass of the Easter Vigil at 5.00 in the morning, followed by breakfast and a second High Mass at a more civilised 10.30am!

Of course there are other special services throughout the Christian Year: please see Forthcoming Services for details of our next services, and Regular Service Times for times of our regular weekday services.

Old Saint Paul’s Activities

We value the link with former ages represented by the ancient liturgy and its formal dignity. At the same time we don’t wish to have our eyes only on the past. We are also looking to the needs of the present world, including those of the people we are involved with in our own lives, day by day.

This we make tangible in a whole range of ways from our Walking Group and the Tithing Group to the Vestry and the Finance Committee to the Property Committee. We look after our young adults and children, and of course we support and value our wonderful Choir. And we run social get-to-know-you events too!

Finding Out More

From time to time we run short courses for people who want to find out more about the worship tradition here, or perhaps about the Episcopal Church, or about the Christian faith more generally. But please ask me - or any of the people named in our Who’s Who section - if you have any questions or suggestions.

So whether or not you have already come inside Old Saint Paul’s, I would like to invite you to find out a little more about just who we are and what we do. Above all, I would like to welcome you into our church, to be a part of our vibrant and interesting - indeed, some say distinctively offbeat - congregation.

The ordained ministry team at Old Saint Paul’s consists of myself, Father Stephen Holmes (non-stipendiary priest) and Charles Davies-Cole (non-stipendiary deacon). We are always available to you for pastoral support, personal discussion, and spiritual counsel. Or just to be listening ears. If you would like to talk, please contact us.

I hope that you will find Old Saint Paul’s to be a true spiritual home, a community in which you can feel accepted and valued for being yourself, and in which you too can find the love of God and the friendship of others. I am looking forward to meeting you.

Canon Ian Paton

Rector, Old Saint Paul’s Church