Message from the skies 2018 - Chapter 10 - Val McDermid - New Year's Resurrection
Message from the skies 2018
Chapter 10 of Val McDermid's New Year's Resurrection
St Cuthbert’s Church
St Cuthbert’s Church (also known as the Kirk of the Castle Rock and Princes Street Gardens) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland.
In the 7th century, St Cuthbert is believed to have built the first church on the site, and as such it is the oldest Christian site in Edinburgh. Over the centuries, a number of churches have stood here, and the Churchyard has been a place of Christian burial for 1000 years.
There is a watchtower at the Churchyard’s entrance, which was built to stop bodysnatchers, in the age of Burke and Hare - two notorious 19th century criminals who committed a series of murders, and sold the corpses of their victims to a doctor of anatomy.
The Churchyard is the resting place of a number of writers, including Thomas De Quincey, Anne Grant, and Susan Ferrier herself.
St Cuthbert’s Church is open to the public between Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 to 15:00. The Churchyard is also open to visitors.