History

There were no churches in Juniper Green before the middle of the nineteenth century. At that time Juniper Green was part of Colinton parish and people had to walk or ride to Colinton to attend worship. By an Act of the Westminster Parliament in 1712, ministers were inducted through patronage by the wealthiest members (the heritors) rather than by election of all the members of the congregation. This, the Patronage Act, was eventually repealed in 1874 but not before numbers of dissenters had left the established Church of Scotland to form churches free of state interference such as the Original Secession churches. In 1843 matters finally came to a head and 40% of the ministers and members walked out of the General Assembly to form the Free Church of Scotland. This is given the name “the Disruption”.

War Memorials

The War Memorial plaques for both St Andrews and St Margarets can be found in the vestibule of the church.

Situated in a bend of the Water of Leith, the church at Colinton possibly existed before the first record. About the year 1095 Hailes, as it was then known, was given by Ethelred, a son of King Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret, to Dunfermline Abbey and the patronage of St Cuthbert is from at least this time. Like many earlier churches it was found that Hailes was not dedicated according to Roman Church procedure so Bishop de Bernam of St. Andrews came and dedicated the church on 27th September 1248.
The small church of Hailes survived military invasions by the Earl of Hertford in 1544 and Cromwell in 1650 not without loss and damage. It is assumed that the Kirk Session minutes may be amongst the losses as the earliest surviving dates from 7th August 1651. The reformation of 1560 led to the loss of church lands which supported the upkeep of buildings and clergy became responsible for church property and the ministers stipend. Fluctuations in church governance between Presbyterianism and Episcopacy led to three ministers of Colinton being deposed between 1639 till 1690 when Presbyterian government of the Church of Scotland was permanently established.
When ‘noveau riches’ started to arrive in Colinton parish in the 18th century with the break up of some large estates, power did remain with other landowners as the Patronage Act of 1712 was passed and was criticised for the inference of civil law in ecclesiastical matters. Some people in Colinton objected to the imposition of Dr. John Walker, Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh University, in 1783 by the Earl of Lauderdale who owned the patronage. With other groups they formed a congregation of the Secession Church and built a church at Slateford within Colinton parish. At the Disruption in 1843, which was partly due to patronage, three elders and some other communicants left to join the Free Church. The year before the Disruption the patronage of Colinton was given to the members of the congregation making the incumbent minister, Rev. Lewis Balfour, then last to be installed by the patron. The patronage Act was finally repealed in 1874.
From the 18th century mills on the Water of Leith and quarries at Redhaii and Hailes expanded with subsequent increase in population of the parish. It is known that Hailes Quarry was producing fairly large quantities of stone by 1750. The church building of 1636 was deemed unsafe and was replaced by a new and larger church in 1771. The Union Canal opened in1818 and the railway 1847 passed close to the quarries in this northern part of the parish. In 1835 the church at Colinton had 1250 parishioners but only seats for 664, also it was reported that only 9% of adults in the village of Juniper Green had the right by payment of pew rent for a seat. The heritors agreed in 1837 that the church was sufficient for the parish. Dr Lockhart, the minister, soon after his arrival, complained about “the nuisances that have sprung up”. Near the church and manse there being the Kirklands Mill on one side and the Hailes Mill on the other. His attempt to get a new manse built either at Firhill or on the glebe above the valley was unsuccessful. The glebe was sold to the Caledonian Railway for the construction of the branch from Slateford to Balerno in the 1870s. The line served the mills on the Water of Leith and also provided a convenient commuter route. The Railway Company also built the viaduct over the river to serve as access to Colinton Station which also diverted traffic away from the old route passing the church and up the steep Kirk Brae.

The coming of the railway led to an increasing number of villas and housing for workers in the mills being built in Colinton. The construction Redford Barracks starting in 1909 and the later acquisition of Dreghorn started he long association between the army and Colinton Parish Church. New parish churches were established at Craiglockhart in 1880 and Juniper Green in 1892. The incorporation of Colinton Parish into the City of Edinburgh in 1920 allowed the growth of housing estates in the 20th century and the creation of Church Extension churches at Fairmilehead (1938), Colinton Mains (1939), St John’s Oxgangs (1957), Holy Trinity (1969) and Slateford Longstone (1952). These churches all took parts of the original Colinton Parish to form their new parishes.
The expansion in the population and the requirement for a larger church in the early 20th century Sidney Mitchell produced designs and the Georgian building demolished, the new church rising in it’s place during 1907 and 1908. In modified form the old church’s tower was rebuilt. Colinton Parish Church was one of the last churches built to the requirements of the heritors, the landowners responsible for amongst other things the upkeep of the church and manse. The heritors occupied the front row of the galleries and had comfortable armchairs while their servants and tenants sat on hard pews, those upstairs having no view except of the minister in the pulpit.
Building work continued in 1925 when the prefabricated community hall provided by Mr MacFie of Dreghorn in Dreghorn Loan was replaced by a new Church Hall. In the 1960s the manse stables and Session Room, beside the church, were converted and extended to form new Church Rooms. Lastly these Church Rooms were redeveloped, connected to the church and opened in 1998. This building, the vision of Rev George Whyte, designed by Page & Park Architects, won an RIBA commendation.
Visitors coming to the church pass the statue of Robert Louis Stevenson as a boy at an age when he stayed with his grandfather, Dr Lewis Balfour, in the manse. They will then pass through the gates erected to commemorate the 900th anniversary of Prince Ethelred’s gift. In the old kirkyard some seek out the grave of Lewis Balfour. The north graveyard, started in the 1890s following the destruction of the Hailes or Hole Mill by fire, the grave of the artist Phobe Anna Traquair is sometimes sought.In 1917 the Kirklands Mill burnt down and the site was later cleared to form the south graveyard where the village War Memorial is situated. On entering the building the visitor may see the yew tree on which RLS’s swing hangs or go into the church to admire the architecture and relive memories or for private prayer and peace.