St Giles Cathedral

History of St Giles Cathedral

St Giles Cathedral is located on the Royal mile in Scotland. It has an astonishing 900 year history it was founded in 1124 by Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (King David I). Whist it was being built and a bit of time after the bond between Rome and Scotland was becoming a bit closer. St Giles was just a working church before the abbot of the time received permission to build houses up to the cathedral. Those houses are now known as the royal mile. The cathedral had a central role in the Scottish religion of the time. It was part of John Knox parish church during the reformation.

St Giles has been raided several times over the years like in 1322 and 1385. It was restored in 1390 with help from some local merchants. In 1466 the pope Paul II bestowed the cathedral to become a collegiate church. In the year 1560 St Giles cathedral officially ended being catholic and became protestant. This ended 400 years of Catholicism despite still having catholic queen Mary of Scots, still on the throne. In 1700 there was some musical bells installed inside of the church spire.

In 1872 St Giles was in a disrepair after William Burn started refurbishments it was split into separate churches.  One of the churches was called Thistle chapel which in 1911 became home to the knights of thistle. The knights was part of an ‘order of chivalry’ in Scotland dating back to 1687.

What’s on and services

There is a mid-day service from 12pm to 12.15pm Monday to Friday. There is 3 different services on at St Giles on a Sunday at the times of 9:30am, 11am and the last service at 6pm. The 9.30am Sunday service is the holy communion and the 11am service is the morning service. On the last Sunday of every month at 7pm there is a joint evening service between St Giles’ and Canongate Kirk.

There are a few different events on at St Giles in the coming months, so check the website to see if there is any that you might be interested in. If you are in a group of 5 or more people you be able to book a tour of St Giles cathedral. St Giles’ plays host to a variety of events, from music concerts to lecture series and art exhibitions.

You can have weddings, funerals and christenings at St Giles cathedral. When queen Elizabeth died her body was laid to rest at the cathedral. The queens body travelled from Balmoral castle to St Giles cathedral. When the Queens body was laid to rest there was over 33,000 people through the door to pay respects.

Accessibility

The nearest bus stop is the Victoria Street bus stop on George IV Bridge, which is also uphill from Princes Street. There are some parking spaces available directly in front of the Cathedral entrance, but there are also used by other businesses. Also there are two disabled parking bays for Blue Badge holders to the rear of the building. There is an access ramp going into the cathedral and there is always another ramp inside for people to use.

Unfortunately there is only 1 toilet on ground level but not really suitably for disabled people. There is a unisex accessible toilet at the nation library of Scotland which is 0.1 mile away. St Giles cathedral is dog friendly and the staff are more then happy to provide water if asked. There is currently 2 manual wheelchairs available  for use to the public. There is plenty of signage around the cathedral in various text size and coloured backgrounds so its easier to navigate.