Saint Mary, Star of the Sea, Leith

Introduction

The church was designed by Edward Welby Pugin and Joseph A Hansom in 1853-4. Three confessionals to the south aisle were added by George Craig in 1891. The north aisle was added by Pugin & Pugin in 1899. The chancel, sacristy and chapels were added by Pugin & Pugin in 1911.

Architecture and furnishings

The central east window is by The Cloky Stained Glass Studios, 1955. Flanking bipartite windows date from 1881 and 1882 and were resited here in 1912. The north aisle windows date from about 1920. The church is built of cream sandstone, squared and snecked stugged rubble with polished and droved dressings.

The south aisle has five projecting gabled confessional boxes connected by a screen wall with a segmental-arched opening. The north aisle has a small projecting segmental-arched doorway to the westernmost bay, three stepped lancets on the west return, and a rose window with flowing tracery on the east return. The chancel has a three-sided apse with tall two-light traceried windows to the outer sides and a broad three-light traceried window to the centre. The roof is steep black slate with a crested stone ridge to the chancel and south transept, ashlar skews, and gabletted skewputts.

The interior has a tall braced collar roof with timber shafts rising from stone corbels, and a pointed arcade with octagonal stone piers. The apse has an elaborate stone and marble reredos of blind arcading and ornately carved canopied niches with saints, and the ceiling is decorated in blue and gold with stencil patterns and stars. There are two additional ornate and richly carved alabaster altars in the side aisles with red marble columns, probably early twentieth century. The church retains original timber pews.

A large organ flanks the west window. The chancel arch is flanked by niches with statues of saints. The chancel has an arcade to the side aisle and an arch painted with angels leading to the apse, with a marble floor and balustrade. The boundary wall to the south is tall rubble with semi-circular coping and a chamfered doorway to the southwest with an iron star inset. The front boundary wall is low rubble with saddleback coping, octagonal coped gatepiers with quatrefoil insets, and elaborate cast-iron gatepiers.