page_title: St Giles' Cathedral
section_title: Pulpits, tables, and font
hierarchical_section_title: St Giles' Cathedral / Features / Furniture / Pulpits, tables, and font
caption_attribution_description: English: John Birnie Rhind's replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen's angel font in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh
context_page_description: St Giles' Cathedral, or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland located in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.
  Likely founded in the 12th century and dedicated to Saint Giles, the church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, such as a prison and as a meeting place for the Parliament of Scotland. In 1633, Charles I made St Giles' the cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Edinburgh.
context_section_description: The pulpit dates to 1883 and was carved in Caen stone and green marble by John Rhind to a design by William Hay. The pulpit is octagonal with relief panels depicting the acts of mercy. An octagonal oak pulpit of 1888 with a tall steepled canopy stands in the Moray Aisle: this was designed by Robert Rowand Anderson. St Giles' possessed a wooden pulpit prior to the Reformation. In April 1560, this was replaced with a wooden pulpit with two locking doors, likely located at the east side of the crossing; a lectern was also installed. A brass eagle lectern stands on the south side of the crossing: this was given by an anonymous couple for use in the Moray Aisle. The bronze lectern steps were sculpted by Jacqueline Gruber Steiger and donated in 1991 by the Normandy Veterans' Association. Until 1982, a Caen stone lectern, designed by William Hay stood opposite the pulpit at the west end of the choir.
  Situated in the crossing, the communion table is a Carrara marble block unveiled in 2011: it was donated by Roger Lindsay and designed by Luke Hughes. This replaced a wooden table in use since 1982. The plain communion table used after the Chambers restoration was donated to the West Parish Church of  Stirling in 1910 and replaced by an oak communion table designed by Robert Lorimer and executed by Nathaniel Grieve. The table displays painted carvings of the Lamb of God, Saint Giles, and angels; it was lengthened in 1953 by Scott Morton & Co. and now stands in the Preston Aisle. The Albany Aisle contains a neo-Jacobean communion table by Whytock and Reid, which was installed at the time of the Aisle's dedication as a war memorial chapel in 1951. A small communion table with Celtic knot and floral designs was added to the Preston Aisle in 2019; this was designed by Sheanna Ashton and made by Grassmarket Furniture.
  The communion table and reredos of the Chambers Aisle were designed by Robert Lorimer and John Fraser Matthew in 1927–29. The reredos contains a relief of the adoration of the infant Christ by angels: this is the work of Morris and Alice Meredith Williams. In 1931, Matthew designed a reredos and communion table for the Moray Aisle; these were removed in 1981 and later sold to the National Museum of Scotland. A reredos in the form of a Gothic arcade stood at the east end of the church from the Chambers restoration; this was designed by William Hay and executed in Caen stone with green marble pillars. In 1953, this was replaced with a fabric reredos, designed by Esmé Gordon. The Gordon reredos was removed in 1971; the east wall is now bare.
  The Caen stone font by John Rhind is in the form of a kneeling angel holding a scallop; the font is an exact replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen's font for the Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen. Initially, it stood near the pulpit before being moved to the west end of the south nave aisle; between 1916 and 1951, it stood in the Albany Aisle; it was then moved to near the west door and has stood in the north choir aisle since 2015.
caption: Font by John Rhind
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