User:CPClegg/Southside Community Centre
Church in Edinburgh, Scotland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Collegiate Church of St Mary in the Fields (commonly known as Kirk o' Field) was a pre-Reformation collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. Likely founded in the 13th century and secularised at the Reformation, the church's site is now covered by Old College.
Kirk o' Field | |
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Collegiate Church of St Mary in the Fields | |
Templum Sanctae Mariae in Campis | |
55°56′50.16″N 3°11′14.72″W | |
Location | Edinburgh |
Country | Scotland |
Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
History | |
Founded | 13th century |
Dedication | Blessed Virgin Mary of Consolation |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Demolished |
Style | Gothic |
Closed | 1560 |
Demolished | 1616–c1629 |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | St Andrews |
Archdeaconry | Lothian |
Deanery | Linlithgow |
Clergy | |
Provost | First: Matthew Ker Last: John Gibb |
The Augustinian monks of Holyrood Abbey held superiority over the church and may have founded it as a centre of education in the 13th century. The church appears to have been raised to collegiate status in the early 16th century. Around this time, the church was brought within the boundaries of Edinburgh by the creation of the Flodden Wall. The church stood just within the wall, near the Potterow Port, which was also known as the Kirk o' Field Port. After the church was secularised at the Reformation, the town council acquired the church's land and provostry. They area became the first site of the town's college: later, the University of Edinburgh. The church is also notable for its association with the murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, which took place in the vicinty in 1567.
Contemporary illustrations show the church as possessing a saddle-roofed tower. The most detailed illustration, from 1567, also shows a tall choir and lower nave and transept. The church's remains were removed in the early 17th century. The site is now covered by Old College. Excavations of Old College quadrangle in 2010 found remains that may be assocaited with the church.