Holy Trinity Church - St.Andrews, Fife.
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creg-ny-baa
N 56° 20.367 W 002° 47.746
30V E 512625 N 6243879
Church of Scotland parish church situated in the centre of the ancient town of St.Andrews in the Kingdom of Fife.
Waymark Code: WM123YM
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/21/2020
Views: 0
The original Holy Trinity Church in St.Andrews was built in 1144 on land south-east of the town's cathedral by Bishop Robert Kennedy and dedicated in 1237 by Bishop David de Bernham. In 1410 the church was built on the present site after a donation of the land by Sir William Lindsay, Lord of the Byres. In 1547 it was the site of the first preaching in public by John Knox and it was his sermon here on June 4th 1559 that led to the stripping and end of ecclesiastical use of the cathedral.
The church was completely rebuilt by Robert Balfour from 1798-1800 and then restored to its original medieval style by MacGregor Chalmers in 1907-09, with only the tower and the arcade arches remaining.
The building occupies a central site in the town on Church Square and is built of coursed sandstone blocks with a slate roof. It is a medieval cruciform with nave, transept arms, chancel, aisles, vestry and a chapel added to the south-east in 1907 named the Hunter Aisle.
The west side overlooks the square with five tall, narrow round-arch stained glass windows and is dominated by the L-plan tower on the north-west corner. The tower is topped by two spires, one larger than the other. On all four faces are large metal and bronze clock faces.
The south side overlooks the busy South Street and is dominated by a massive gothic window. To the west is the tall crow-stepped John Knox porch which is used as the entrance and is in the same position as in the 15th century building. To the east is the Hunter Aisle.
The east side overlooks Church Street which links the two main thoroughfares of South Street and Market Street and features a large gothic window. The north side overlooks the narrow part of the square and features three round-arch windows with a north transept, named the Playfair Aisle after Lord Playfair of St.Andrews. To the west is a gabled vestry.
A church sign near the entrance on South Street denotes the building as being Church of Scotland.