coate3 Street.] ST, MARY?S CATHEDRAL 211
ward of Princes Street, this estate includes the sites
of Coates Crescent, Melville,Walker, Stafford Streets,
and other thoroughfares, yielding a rental of aboul
&zo,ooo yearly, and representing a capital oi
~400,000, the whole of which, in 1870, was be
queathed by the late Misses Walker of Coates and
Drumsheugh, for the erection of a cathedral for the
Scottish Episcopal Church, dedicated to St. Maq
facing the west end of Melville Street.
Miss Mary Walker-the last of an old Episcopalian
family-died in 1871, her sister Barbara having
pre-deceased her. The foundation-stone was laid
with impressive ceremony, by the Duke of Buccleuchj
assisted by some zoo clergy and laymen 01
the Episcopal communion on the zIst of May, 1874;
and when fully completed it will be the largest and
most beautiful church that has been erected in
Scotland, or perhaps in Great Britain since the
Reformation. The total cost, when finished, will
be about .&132,567.
The architect, Sir Gilbert Scott, founded his
design on the early Pointed style of architecture.
The axis of this cathedral coincides with the
centre of Melville Street, its site being immediately
to the south of Coates House, the sole example of
an old Scottish mansion surviving in the New Town.
The form adopted is that of a cruciform church, the
general effect being enhanced by the introduction
to the central tower of two minor, though still lofty,
towers at the western end. The plan embraces a
choir with north and south aisles ; at the intersection
of the transepts rises the central or rood tower,?z75
feet inheight; the total length of the edifice externally
is 278 feet 2 inches, and the breath 98 feet 6 inches.
The choir is 60 feet 9 inches long and 29 broad,
with aisles 16 feet wide, divided into two great and
four minar bays by beautifully clustered columps.
From the floor to the key-stones of the vaulting,
which is all of stone, the height is 58 feet. The
transepts, which project by one ?bay beyond the
nave and choir, are .35 feet 4 inches long, by 30
feet g inches broad, with aisles above 13 feet wide.
This unusual proportion of breadth -was given to
the transepts to provide ample accommodation for
congregational purposes. To the north of the north
chancel aisle is the library, an apartment measuring
30 feet by I 9 feet. The main entrance of the church
is from Palmerston Place, opposite what are grotesquely
named Grosvenor Gardens. This elevation
is the most imposing modern Gothic fapde in Scotland,
severe in its purity, and rich in elaboration.
The most important features here are the portal and
great west window. The shafts and flanking arches
of the former are of red granite, from Shap in Westmoreland,
harmonising well with the fine nunmore
and Polmaise freestone of which the edifice i s built.
In the vesica of the centre pediment is a seated
figure of the Saviour, supporting with the left hand
a lamb, and with the outstretched right holding a
key. Around is the legend :-
SALVABITUR?
?EGO SUM OSTIUM; PER ME SI QUIS INTROIERIT
In the spandrils are figures of St. Peter and
John the Baptist. Below this grouping are ranged
along the door lintel angels bearing a scroll inscribed-
?TU ES CHRISTUS FILIUS DEI.?
The side elevations of the nave present the
usual features of the early Pointed style, the walls
of the aisle being substantially buttressed, dividing
the length into five bays, in each of which is a
double window. Above the clerestory runs a bold
cotnice, and from the wall head there springs a high
pitched roof. In the gable of the south transept is
anotherportal, the mouldings of which are exquisitely
carved. The window consists of three lancets separated
by massively clustered buttress shafts. Above
it is a rose window 24 feet in diameter, filled
in with geometrical tracery. Above it are five
pointed niches, containing statues of St. Paul and
St. Luke, Titus, Silas, and Timotheus.
the gable of the north transept has some features
peculiarly its own. The wheel window, 24 feet
in diameter, is of a later period than that in the
south gable, Over it is a statue of David. As
usual in cathedrals, the choir has been treated
with greater elaboration of design and detail than
the nave, especially in the triforium and clerestory.
The gable fronting Melville Street is nearly
occupied by a triple lancet window, the apex of
the arches being 54 feet from the ground. Above
is an arcade, the arches of which are filled by
statues of the mother of our Lord and the four
Evangelists. In the vesica is a figure of the
Saviour surrounded by angels in the act of adoration.
The four shafted and clustered pillars of the roodtower,
though framed to support a superincumbent
mass of no less than 6,000 tons, are finely proportioned
and even light in appearance. The tower
rises square from the roof in beautiful proportions,
the transition to the octagonal form taking place
at the height of 120 feet from the foundation.
Viewed from any point, the nave, with its longdrawn
aisles and interlacing arches, has a peculiarly
p n d and impressive effect. Designed in the
style of the twelfth century, the font stands in the
baptistery under the south-west tower. It is
massive, of yellowish alabaster streaked with red
Though treated in a somewhat similar manner, ,
