On 26th December 1449 the first service was held at Crichton Collegiate Church, south of Edinburgh.
The church is one of few remaining pre-Reformation collegiate churches which are still in use in Scotland, Rosslyn Chapel, also in Midlothian being another.
Lying a quarter-mile southwest of the Midlothian village of Crichton, and just to the north of Crichton Castle, the Crichton Parish Church was established as a Collegiate Church in 1449 by Sir William Crichton, laird of the nearby Crichton Castle and Chancellor of Scotland.
Crichton is named after its lords, even though the “Lords” of Crichton were members of the ranks of the lesser mobility, until 1424, when William was knighted at the coronation of James I. His family fortunes were raised by his son, William, the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, who became, during the minority of James II, the most powerful person in the kingdom.
William Crichton spent much of his life quarrelling with the powerful Douglases. Crichton was responsible for the famous “Black Dinner” in Edinburgh Castle at which the Sixth Earl of Douglas and his brother were murdered.
As a consequence of the damage to the castle, William, who became Lord Chancellor in 1447, had to effect repairs. While he was at it, he decided to build Crichton Collegiate Church.
Confirmation of the status of a collegiate church was given by James Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, and the church was finished in time to hold its first service on December 26th 1449, making it just a few years older than Midlothian’s other famous old kirk, the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, better known now as Rosslyn Chapel.
At its inauguration, provisions had been made for a provost, eight prebendaries, two boys or clerks and a sacrist. The money to sustain this religious community was coming from the revenue of neighbouring churches, and elsewhere.
By the time the new owners embarked on a major programme to rebuild Crichton Castle in the 1580s, the chapel was already in a state of disrepair. Still, in 1641, the church formerly known as collegiate became Crichton’s Presbyterian parish church.
In the 19th century, the future of Crichton looked equally bleak. In 1822, it was decided that repairs had to be carried out imminently, or, it was suggested, perhaps it was better to abandon the chapel altogether – underlining the desperate state in which the building was found to be in. It was nevertheless decided that repairs should be carried out, which occurred in 1825.
The church, now without its original nave, saw a pulpit placed high on the south wall (a ring in the wall is today the only remnant of it), and with the extensive use of galleries around three walls, as many as 600 people could be seated in what must have been a very cramped space when full.
Despite these renovations, in the late 19th century, further repairs and renovations had to be carried out. In 1898, when all “innovations” were cleared out, only leaving the bare and solid walls. The church reopened on May 11, 1899. The latest series of restoration work was carried out in 1999, to coincide with the church’s 450th anniversary
