Church Memorials

This site recognises the memorials of three neighbouring Edinburgh churches - Viewforth, St David's and St Oswald's, which are now united in a single congregation.

Viewforth Church, located at the junction of Gilmore Place and St Peter's Place (a continuation of Viewforth) was opened in 1872. Rev. James Patrick was the minister there in 1914, and at the end of the war a Memorial, of wood and brass, was erected. The inscription on the memorial is:

"Erected by the members of Viewforth Church congregation in memory of..." (WW1)
"To the glory of God and in memory of those who gave their lives in the war 1939-1945" (WW2)

Many years later Patrick was to look back at his time at Viewforth and write of his recollections of the war years in the church magazine 'The Record':

'... there came the years of war which carried off the young men in succession as they reached military age, and not only them, but in the end practically the whole adult manhood of the congregation. Many of those whom we could least afford to lose never returned, and the whole of those four long years were a time of inexpressible anxiety and strain.'

After World War 2 the names of the casualties of that war were added to the memorial. At a service in 1952 various items which had been given in memory of those who had recently died or lost their lives in the war were dedicated, including a lectern in memory of Robert Finlay Scott, who died on Christmas Day, 1941.

St Oswald's Church, at the junction of Montpelier Park and Montpelier (and adjacent to Bruntsfield Primary School) was opened in 1900. The original War Memorial is now an integral part of the building, and was modified to include the casualties of the World War 2. Its inscription reads:

"Forth from the homes of the servants of God worshipping in this place these gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919"

After uniting with Viewforth Church several years previously (to form Viewforth-St Oswald's Church) the St Oswald's building was vacated in 1963 and is now an annex of Boroughmuir High School.

St David's Church, at the foot of Viewforth, and near its junction with Dundee Street, was opened in 1912. A cast War Memorial was erected after the First World War, to which was added a simple plaque containing the names from the 1939-45 conflict. The inscription on the memorial is:

"To the glory of God and in never dying memory of those members and adherents of St. David's Parish Church who in the Great War 1914-1919 laid down their lives for the eternal cause of righteousness and truth.
'They loved not their life unto Death.'"

The congregation of St David's joined with the neighbouring Viewforth-St Oswald's in 1973, with the former building being closed and later demolished. Its War Memorial was relocated to the Viewforth building.

It was recognised that it was physically impossible to relocate the St Oswald's Memorial, and that it was preferable to have a single memorial within the united congregation. Sheila Young, a member of the congregation, created a Book of Remembrance containing the names and inscriptions from all the Memorials. This Book was dedicated at the Remembrance Sunday service in November 1980 and now forms the focal point for Remembrance.