Corstorphine Parish Church, Kirk Loan, Edinburgh

Corstorphine Parish Church is a cruciform church built over several centuries, beginning with a burial chapel constructed in 1404 by Sir Adam Forrester at the east end. In 1429, his son Sir John Forrester added significant portions that established the church's basic shape, including the nave, south transept, tower, and inner porch. Following the demolition of an adjacent parish church in 1646, its stones were reused to form an entrance porch and north transept. William Burn oversaw restoration and additions in 1828, extending the nave to create a north aisle, adding a small west galilee, and repositioning the main door below the east window of the chancel. A major restoration and refurbishment by George Henderson between 1903 and 1905 included moving the main entrance to the west end, installing a slabbed roof, and making radical interior changes.

The building is constructed of coursed sandstone with sandstone ashlar mouldings. Its plan is cruciform with a square-plan tower topped by an octagonal stone spire. The roof is imbricated granolithic slabs. Heavy angle buttresses, except at the sacristy, have canted apexes, square terminal sundials, base courses, cill courses, and finials.

The west elevation features a central 2-leaf timber door within a low entrance porch, topped by a round-headed stained glass window with two heraldic panels in the gable head and skews. The tower displays stained glass and a narrow splay at its second stage, with paired louvred openings at the third stage on all faces and crocketed finials at each corner. The octagonal spire has three crenellated string courses. A gabled north aisle contains a 2-light off-centre opening with a central narrow splay in the gable head. The west galilee has a central label-moulded entrance with 2-leaf timber doors.

The north elevation, accessed through a pathway off Glebe Terrace, shows a central lancet arch 3-light opening at the galilee with perpendicular tracery and triple chamfered reveals. The north aisle has three pairs of perpendicular lights, and the sacristy has a single rectangular mullioned window.

The south elevation on Corstorphine High Street features a doorway to the east of the entrance porch with a timber door and small stained glass window at ground level, a leaded window at the second stage in the tower, and a central pointed arch 3-light opening with perpendicular tracery, triple chamfered reveals, flanking shields, and a canted shield with a bird's head above the window apex. The nave has three sets of paired perpendicular lights, and the chancel has two pairs of perpendicular lights separated by a dividing buttress.

The east elevation on Kirk Loan displays a central pointed arch 3-light chancel opening with perpendicular tracery, triple chamfered reveals, and a beacon light in a niche above the window apex. The sacristy has a 2-light rectangular mullioned light at ground level and a leaded single rectangular light above, with steps to a cellar.

The interior is predominantly the work of George Henderson's 1903-5 restoration. The entrance porch contains carved stones, including one identified as the tombstone of Sir Adam Forrester's grandson.

The nave has twin tunnel-vaults of granolithic slabs on chamfered stone ribs supported by six corbels carved by Birnie Rhind with heads derived from Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, with foliated capitals. The pulpit, stone pillar lectern, and timber furnishings were all designed by George Henderson. A 17th-century hourglass stands behind the lectern with one replaced bulb. A small gallery to the west was opened out during the 1905 restoration.

The sacristy has projecting corbels indicating the level of two upper chambers, with window lights at ground and first-floor levels, an elaborately carved timber and glass door, an altar slab, and a piscina.

The chancel contains two recessed moulded pointed arch tombs on the north wall divided by a doorway to the sacristy, with labelstops bearing shields carrying angels. Effigies of Sir John Forrester and his wife occupy the western tomb, while a second Sir John Forrester occupies the eastern tomb, with family shields in panels below each. A Reader's Chair on the south wall is constructed from oak from the now-demolished Provost's house of 1550, which once stood on the site of the present Corstorphine High Street Hall. The Priest's Door bears commemorative dates of 1429, 1455, and 1769. Memorial slabs commemorate Alexander Tod (1489) and Robert Heriot (1443). An unidentified stone features a floriated calvary cross. A recessed basket arch stone sedilia and elaborately carved timber sedilia are present. Memorial tablets to Nicholas Bannatyne (1429) and George Henderson are on the east wall.

The south transept retains remains of original groining, badly damaged during William Burn's 1828 alterations. It contains a circular-plan late medieval font from Gogar Church with a roughly hewn bowl. A recess houses a credence table with a sculpted panel by Isobel Reid and a tapestry by Dovecot Studios above. A moulded pointed arch recessed tomb beneath the south window contains the effigy of an armoured knight, popularly believed to be Sir Adam Forrester who died in 1405, though the armour style suggests it may be a descendant (the design dating approximately 30 years later), with family shields in panels. A ringed stone memorial slab dated 1620 previously covered the burial vault of the Watsons of Saughton.

The church bell was cast in 1728, replacing an earlier bell donated in 1577 by Sir James Forrester that has a "rent in the steeple" according to the church minutes.

The stained glass is predominantly by Ballantine, dated 1904-5, with the exception of a 3-light window in the south chapel by Gordon Webster (1970) and two southeast nave windows by Nathaniel Bryson (1904).

The churchyard contains many fine 18th-century monuments. On the south wall is a pedimented monument to Walker (1751), possibly carved by William Don.

A stone memorial plaque and cross to Kirk Loan stands within a semi-circular niche on the boundary.

The boundary walls are of coped sandstone rubble, low and stepped to Kirk Loan. Coped semi-pyramidal piers at the Kirk Loan entrance support cast-iron gates with heraldic shields. A single cast-iron gateway provides access from the narrow pathway off Glebe Terrace. Coped pyramidal gatepiers at the Corstorphine High Street entrance support cast-iron gates. A single-storey gabled rubble gatehouse and vault serve the Corstorphine High Street and Glebe Terrace entrances respectively.