page_title: General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland
section_title: Scottish Parliament
hierarchical_section_title: General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland / Other uses / Scottish Parliament
caption_attribution_description: Her Majesty The Queen addresses MSPs at the temporary home of the Scottish Parliament in the General Assembly building of the Church of Scotland on The Mound in Edinburgh (3 June 2003)
context_page_description: The Assembly Hall is located between the Lawnmarket and The Mound in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the meeting place of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
context_section_description: The Scottish Constitutional Convention met in the Assembly Hall on 30 March 1989, at which A Claim of Right for Scotland, a call for the creation of a Scottish Parliament, was signed by 58 out of 72 Scottish Members of Parliament. It was organised by the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly. The Scottish Parliament was declared open by the Queen on 1 July 1999.
  Between 1999 and 2004 the Assembly Hall was the temporary debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament. The access to this facility was via a new glazed porch, discreetly placed in the SW corner of Mylne's Court off the Lawnmarket in the midst of some of the University of Edinburgh's Halls of Residence. All traces of this porch were eradicated, and the west wall where it stood returned to a blank wall, immediately after the new parliament opened. The old (and uncomfortable) dark green leather bench seating was removed. Temporary (and removable) desks and seating were installed and the Hall was carpeted. The Church of Scotland used the Edinburgh International Conference Centre for the 1999 General Assembly and the Usher Hall in 2001. In other years, the Parliament vacated the Assembly Hall for the Church.
  The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament had an office within the Assembly Hall buildings; all other parliamentary offices were located in the former Midlothian County Buildings or the former Lothian Regional Council offices (since demolished), both located on George IV Bridge.
  Following the completion of the new Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood in October 2004, the Assembly Hall was refurbished with new theatre-type upholstered seating. The Church of Scotland's Board of Practice and Procedure set up an Assembly Hall Development Group to consider how the building could be more widely used in future. The Assembly Hall is now regularly used for conferences and performances, as well as for the annual General Assembly in May.
caption: The Queen addressing the Scottish Parliament in the General Assembly Hall (3 June 2003)
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