South Leith Parish Church or Kirk is the principal church and congregation in Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its kirkyard is the burial place for John Home, author of Douglas, and John Pew, the man from whom the author Robert Louis Stevenson reputedly derived the character of Blind Pew in the novel Treasure Island.
The building, which has a long history, began as a chapel dedicated to St Mary originally erected in 1483. The form of worship at the church was changed in 1560 from Roman Catholic to Presbyterian, as a consequence of the Reformation. The church also became the de facto Parish Kirk for South Leith in the same year after Restalrig Kirk, which up until then had served that community, was demolished by order of the newly formed General Assembly. This status for South Leith Parish Kirk was confirmed by Act of Parliament in 1609.
Reconstruction and restoration of the building in 1847-48 included the installation of a magnificent hammerbeam nave roof designed by the architect Thomas Hamilton. The church is a category A listed building.[1] South Leith Parish Kirk is situated on the Kirkgate in Leith, currently a pedestrian precinct.
...not mentioned here are the pirates buried undernearth the church floors, the English map from the sieges in the 16th century, the metal cap and baton used for defending the graves against potential robbers (similar to Burke and Hare, who didn't actually venture to Leith.. assumedly there were a lot of similar incidences), and so on. An incredible place to record, I'd expect.
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