saturday morning and I went to church, St Cuthbert's

I suppose it is better to be late than never, as they say - and so it was that I eventually visited the Parish Church of St Cuthbert, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, which I my father regularly visited for his lunch and cuppa, in the years before his death. It sits in the grounds of the old graveyard, below and behind St John's Church, and can be overlooked, especially when the trees are with foliage.

The church, which dates back to the 7th century when St Cuthbert first preached on the spot there, which was at the time on the shores of the Nor'loch.

A number of "churches" stood on the spot and it was in 1894 that the present church was contructed - the foundation stone being under the pupit where there is a "time capsule" - and it is believed that is the place where the 1st church stood.

On entering the church you can visit a beautiful small chapel with the alter set in an alcove decorated with gold mosaic tiles and a small stained glass window depicting the crucifixion behind it.

In the opposite window is another stained glass panel depicting St Cuthbert as a young shepherd, then as he landed on Lindisfarne Island where he became the Bishop, and the main panel with him as Bishop and the head of St Oswald, King of Northumberland under his arm - the head was buried in St Cuthbert's coffin.

The novelist, Agatha Christie went through her second marriage ceremony in this chapel in 1930.

The inside of the main church is large and spacious. The Apse is decorated with an alabaster frieze - in three sections, depicting the last supper, and on the domed ceiling above are another three panels, each with a painting, the first (central) done in 1928 and the other two in 1933.

The organ has a lovely tone, and opposite the organ pipes is a large screen which was created by Edinburgh Art College in 1990 and on the medallion shows young Cuthbert tending his sheep in the Lammermuir Hills.

I have shown one of the stained glass windows which are around the church, however, there is one depicting David and going out to slay Goliath - this window was created by Tiffany of New York in 1903 and is one of the five sited in the U.K.

The graveyard has some fascinating gravestones, there is an unusual one with the masonic square and compass on the grave of Samuel Gilbert who was a rope maker.

Some interesting text on Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Controller of Excise ; the grave of William Earl of Aberdeen; and that of Mrs Henderson who appears to have been interred with ten of her children.

It was an interesting visit, the people I met, from the caretaker, to the volunteer ladies in the tea / coffee stand ( £1.20 for a coffee and cheese scone), were very friendly and informative - so I will need to go back and get some more photos and information. Just goes to show that my Dad was a wise soul.