St Giles is well known and also celebrates 900 years of existence. It is one of several large churches that developed in, or close to, the centres of Royal Burghs, and this talk describes their development as an illustration of the development of royal burghs. It will focus primarily on St Giles which has a few unique characteristics.

Speaker

Professor Adam Cumming

Professor Cumming has worked as a research scientist for over 40 years in the defence field. He was made an Honorary Professor in the University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry.

He is an Associate Editor of two academic journals and is the editor of several books in his field. He is very active in supporting networking and collaboration both nationally and internationally and takes part in or chairs several scientific committees for conferences.

He has a life-long interest in church architecture and history, particularly Scottish, and this led him to become a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland as well as a member of other related organisations. He has been involved with EWHT since returning to Edinburgh in 2014 and acted as a guide in the Tron Kirk. He became firstly a supporter and then a Trustee of Scotland’s Churches’ Trust before becoming its Chair in October 2022. He has lectured on Scottish church architecture to the National Trust for Scotland amongst others. His work involvements have allowed him to visit many churches across Europe and he has observed similarities in approach and architecture.

Interest in music is reflected in his support for both the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He and his wife Lesley live in Cramond where he is a member of Cramond Kirk Session.