Highland Church
The Highland Church was a Gaelic-speaking congregation of the Church of Scotland, based in Tollcross, Edinburgh. Formed by the union of St Oran's Church and St Columba's Gaelic Church in 1948, the congregation continued united with Tolbooth St John's in 1956. Gaelic worship in Edinburgh began in the early 18th century, leading to the opening of the Gaelic Chapel in 1769. At the Disruption of 1843, all the office-bearers of the Gaelic congregation joined Free Church along with most of the congregation's members. The Free congregation met at a building off Lothian Road before moving nearby to a permanent church at Cambridge Street in Tollcross. From 1849 to 1846, Thomas McLauchlan served as the congregation's minister. An active pastor, he strengthened congregation's activities and served as the moderator of the Free Church's general assembly in 1876. The congregation adopted the name St Columba's Gaelic Free Church, after Columba of Iona, in 1864. In 1900, most of the congregation joined the United Free Church, which had been formed by the union of the Free and United Presbyterian churches. Disputes and schisms around the union diminished the congregation, however. By 1931, the regular English service, introduced in 1886, had become the congregation's main act of worship. The union of United Free Church with the Church of Scotland in 1929 brought St Columba's and the congregation from which it had split – known, by this point, as St Oran's – into the same denomination. Edinburgh's two Gaelic congregations united in 1948. They continued to use the St Columba's buildings until uniting with Tolbooth St John's in 1956. Via Highland, Tolbooth, St John's union with Greyfriars Kirk in 1979, the latter congregation maintains a weekly Gaelic service. St Columba's occupied a simple building in the Early English style by Patrick Wilson, completed in 1851. The building afterwards served as an arts venue before being demolished in 1989. The Saltire Court development, incorporating the Traverse Theatre, now occupies the site. History Foundation The Highland Church originated in Edinburgh's original Gaelic congregation, which could trace its origins to the turn of the 18th century. The Gaelic congregation within the Church of Scotland was formally established with its own building at Chapel Wynd in the Old Town in 1769. The congregation moved to Horse Wynd near modern day Chambers Street in 1815. At the Disruption of 1843, the vast majority of the congregation, including all its office-bearers, joined the Free Church. They continued to meet in the Horse Wynd building until 1844. The few congregants who had remained in the established church were not in a position to appoint a new board of trustees until 1845. After the newly-formed Gaelic Free congregation was expelled from the Horse Wynd chapel in 1844, they worshipped for a year in the hall of the Royal High School before occupying a simple brick building between Lothian Road and Castle Terrace. The building had been constructed for and soon vacated by the congregation which had left St George's at the Disruption. During