Duddingston Church, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Duddingston Kirk is a Parish Church, located adjacent to Holyrood Park. The church was built in or around 1124 by Dodin, a Norman knight, on land granted to Kelso Abbey by King David I of Scotland. As originally built, the church consisted of the chancel, nave and square tower. The traditional pattern of an east-west axis was adopted. The original entrance on the south wall includes a particularly fine example of Scoto-Norman stone carving, with a round-topped doorway. Following the enlargement of the parish boundaries, the Prestonfield Aisle was added in 1631. This consists of a gallery, downstairs area and burial vaults were on the north side. In 1968 the church's interior was reconditioned, with the former pipe organ removed.

The entrance to the churchyard from Duddingston village is notable for its gatehouse, built as a lookout point to deter “bodysnatchers” in the early 19th century. The Edinburgh bodysnatchers, known as 'resurrectionists,' stole recently buried corpses to sell to anatomists, and, as in the notorious case of Burke and Hare, sometimes also resorted to murder.

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Religious sites in United Kingdom

User Reviews

GB Audio (4 years ago)
Very friendly, welcoming, helpful.

Cameron Morrison (4 years ago)
Great for pictures.

Adam Knauz (4 years ago)
Nice little church and graveyard just on the south side of Holyrood Park.

Ron Leckie (5 years ago)
Lovely old church with lots of history. A modern tearoom and garden make this a great place to visit.

Richy Hypno (6 years ago)
Very small but real peaceful inside. If you are visiting you must get into dr Neil's garden over the wall it's great.

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Les Invalides is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building"s original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l"Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d"Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France"s war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte.

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