The Queen's Hall is a performance venue in the Southside, Edinburgh, Scotland. The building opened in 1824 as Hope Park Chapel and reopened as the Queen's Hall in 1979.

Hope Park Chapel opened as a chapel of ease within the West Kirk parish in 1824. The chapel became a parish church with the name Newington Parish Church in 1834. The congregation supported the creation of a mission church in St Leonard's in 1878. The two congregations united to form Newington and St Leonard's Parish Church in 1932. The church was dissolved in 1976 and the building was purchased by the Scottish Philharmonic Society. It was reopened as a performance venue in 1979 by Elizabeth II, after whom the building was renamed. The hall has hosted artists including Nina Simone, Nick Cave, and Adele. In 2018, the hall estimated it welcomed 90,000 visitors across 200 concerts annually. It is the only major venue to host events for all of the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, and the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival.

The building was designed in the neoclassical style by Robert Brown and was adapted for use as a performance venue by Larry Rolland of Robert Hurd & Partners. It now has a capacity of up to 900. Notable features include two large, 18th-century boards displaying the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments. It has been a Category A listed building since 14 December 1970.

Newington and St Leonard's Parish Church Hope Park Chapel (1822−1834)

The south-eastern portion of the West Kirk Parish had been served since the 1750s by the Buccleuch Chapel. By 1822, however, population growth in the Southside and Newington spurred West Kirk session to appoint a committee of investigation to assess the need for a new place of worship in the southern districts of the parish. The commission found the parish had a population of 20,250 but only 6,274 seats in established churches.Burnett 1984, p. 1.Sime 1829, pp. 172-173.

The session launched an appeal to support a new chapel and, within eleven days, secured £630 in donations and almost £2,000 in loans. Despite initial difficulties in securing a site, a location on South Clerk Street with access to the Meadows was purchased.

The foundation stone was laid in 1823 and the church opened in 1824 as a chapel of ease within St Cuthbert's Parish with seats for 1,700.Pinkerton 2012, p. 170. When the church's first minister, Robert Gordon, left to become minister of the New North Church in 1825, one candidate to replace him was Edward Irving. Irving rejected the congregation's call but gave a series of morning lectures in the church in 1829.Bell in Gray 1961, pp. 63-64.

Newington Parish Church In 1834, during the ministry of David Runciman, the chapel became the church of a parish quoad sacra as Newington Parish Church.Scott 1915, p. 86. Runciman remained in the established church at the Disruption of 1843; however, many of the congregation joined the newly formed Free Church and four elders from Newington joined four elders from Liberton Kirk and their minister, James Begg, to establish Newington Free Church nearby, on the opposite side of South Clerk Street.Ewing 1914, ii p. 7.Dunlop 1988, p. 480.Pinkerton 2012, p. 129.

After Runciman's departure as minister of Newington Parish Church in 1844, the congregation was without a regular minister until 1859, when James Elder Cumming became minister and the parish's status was recognised by the Court of Teinds. An organ, by Forster & Andrews, was installed in 1873, it was only the second organ installed in a Church of Scotland building in Edinburgh after Old Greyfriars.

Mission and St Leonard's Parish Church

The parish covered the affluent villas and terraces of the Southside and Newington as well as the deprived area around Causewayside. John Alison, minister of Newington between 1871 and 1898, described part of the street as "the worst bit of Edinburgh". An international trade slump in the 1850s hollowed-out the area's once thriving weaving industry and deprivation and overcrowding became common.Smith 1979, ii p. 448.

The church founded a school on Dalkeith Road, opposite Holyrood Park Road and supported a missionary hall in Causewayside until 1866. This was followed by the appointment of a missionary in that area, who operated from the Burnett Buildings, which were known as "The Brickie". A student missionary was appointed in 1890 and new premises were secured in 1899. On 2 April 1916, these were damaged in a Zeppelin raid. Newington Social Union was established at the Brickie in 1892.Gray in Gray 1961, p. 82. At the end of the 19th century, the church also supported a district nurse and a Dorcas society. Between 1860 and 1892, the church served the girls of the Trades Maiden Hospital, who sat on the south side of the gallery during worship. The boys of Robertson's Academy, off East Preston Street, sat opposite.Burnett 1984, p. 5.Towill 1953, p. 32.

The congregation also addressed its parish's growing population by contributing £1,500 towards the construction of a new church in St Leonard's.Burnett 1984, p. 4.Balfour 1900, p. 19. The foundation stone was laid on 1 June 1878 by the Earl of Rosslyn, Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in the presence of John Tulloch, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.Balfour 1900, p. 20. St Leonard's Church opened on 6 April 1879. The building was designed by John Lessels and, at its opening, had space for 1,000 worshippers as well as an organ by Forster & Andrews.Balfour 1900, p. 22. On 21 November 1879, the church was gutted by fire but was soon rebuilt, reopening on 21 May 1880 and becoming a charge quoad sacra in 1883 with a parish detached from St Cuthbert's.Balfour 1900, pp. 23, 27-29.Dunlop 1988, p. 481.Scott 1915, p. 110.

Reunion (1929–1976)

In 1929, the Church of Scotland united with the United Free Church, which had itself been formed by the union of the Free and United Presbyterian churches in 1900. The union resulted in 13 parish churches within the area between Holyrood Park and the Meadows, south of the old city wall.Burnett 1984, p. 6. As the Southside's population was beginning to decline, amalgamation and closure of some of these churches became a matter of necessity. In 1932, Hugh Cameron resigned as minister of Newington due to ill health and William Liddle, minister of St Leonard's, led the new, united charge of Newington and St Leonard's Parish Church. The St Leonard's buildings were sold to the Church of Christ for £3,000 and the funds used from its sale were directed to the construction of a new church hall at Newington, designed by J. Jeffrey Waddell and opened on 8 December 1934.

In 1941, the Newington Social Union ceased operations and, in 1943, the missionary halls in Causewayside, which the church had let to Edinburgh Coroporation since 1931, were sold. The same year, a former café on Melville Terrace was purchased to serve as a youth centre.Lamb 1961, p. 29. In 1959, a restoration of the church under Ian Gordon Lindsay was completed.Burnett 1984, p. 7.

In the post-war period, the Southside's population continued to decline, as did the congregations of the area's churches. In 1967, the Presbytery of Edinburgh proposed a six-way union of congregations to include Newington and St Leonard's with Buccleuch; Charteris-Pleasance; Nicolson Street; St Paul's Newington; and St Margaret's, Dumbiedykes. This proved too complex but a five-fold union, excluding St Paul's Newington was requested by the General Assembly the following year. The congregations of Charteris-Pleasance and St Margaret's supported the move while the others rejected it. Newington and St Leonard's removed itself from negotiations.Pinkerton 2012, p. 149. The congregation continued for seven years more before being dissolved on 31 July 1976.MacDonald 2000, p. 15.

Ministers

The following ministers served Hope Park Chapel (1824–1834); Newington Parish Church (1834–1932); and Newington and St Leonard's Parish Church (1932–1976):Scott 1950, p. 14.MacDonald 1981, p. 18.

1824–1825 Robert Gordon 1826–1828 John Forbes 1829–1844 David Runciman 1859–1871 James Elder Cumming 1871–1898 John Alison 1898–1932 Hugh Cameron 1932–1940 William Liddle 1940–1956 Edwin Sprott Towill 1957–1976 Matthew Shields

The following ministers served St Leonard's Parish Church (1879–1932):Scott 1950, p. 21.

1879–1903 Lewis Frederick Armitage 1904–1912 John Calder 1913–1932 William Liddle

Queen's Hall History At the time of Newington and St Leonard's Parish Church's closure, the Scottish Baroque Ensemble, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Scottish Philharmonic Singers were in search of a permanent base. The Scottish Philharmonic Society commissioned architects Robert Hurd & Partners to draw up plans to convert the church into a concert hall. These were accepted by the City of Edinburgh Council over a rival proposal to convert the building into offices.Burnett 1984, p. 8.

On top of a provisional grant of £35,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, a funding appeal was launched in 1977 and had secured £100,000 in individual donations as well as £50,000 from the city council. Larry Rolland of Robert Hurd & Partners was chosen as architect with Melville, Dundas & Whitson as contractors; work began in February 1978. During the construction, the project attracted further funding from sources including a benefit concert by James Galway and a gala at Hopetoun House. This culminated in a £200,000 grant from Lothian Regional Council, this allowed further work to take place, delaying the completion of the project until June 1979.

Ahead of the hall's opening, the name The Queen's Hall was chosen to evoke Edinburgh's royal associations and to reference the memory London's Queen's Hall. Suggested names which included "Philharmonic" or which evoked the building's ecclesiastical history were discounted.Burnett 1984, p. 10.

The conversion of the hall was completed in time for its official opening by Elizabeth II on 6 July 1979. Work on the building continued subsequent to its opening. Further works included the opening of the Canada Room in 1982, now known as the Tunnell Room; the addition of a mezzanine level to the former hall in 1991; and, in 1996, the installation of a piano lift, new lighting, and carpets along with the refurbishment of the seating.

In August 2003, the hall launched an appeal for funds and announced in November of the same year that Richard Murphy Architects had been commissioned to upgrade the hall. Murphy's plan involved the demolition of all but the hall's façade and steeple and the creation of a new hall to the rear with capacity for 1,200. David Black, an architectural historian who, as chairman of the South Side Association, opposed plans to turn the building into offices in the 1970s, criticised the plans to redevelop the building. In May 2004, the proposals were dropped. Adrian Harris, the hall's chief executive claimed the proposals could not accommodate extra facilities desired by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and that a new hall at a new site was then being explored. In 2006, a report for Edinburgh City Council by consultancy Art Portfolio suggested a new hall on the waterfront at Granton or Leith to replace the Queen's Hall as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's base. The plan was supported by Herbert Coutts, the city's director of leisure and culture, but criticised by Richard Murphy.

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