The village of Corstorphine is situated about three miles west of
Edinburgh.
The church is intimately associated with the Forrester family. It was
erected and endowed by them, and their tombs and monuments, emblazoned
[Illustration: FIG. 1172.--The Collegiate Church of Corstorphine. Plan.]
with heraldic emblems, are conspicuous on its walls. The manor was
acquired by Adam Forrester, a burgess and provost of Edinburgh, in the
year 1376, and the title of Lord Forrester of Corstorphine continued in
the family till the year 1763.
There was a chapel at Corstorphine as early as the year 1128, which was
granted to the new Abbey of Holyrood. This structure afterwards became
the parish church, and continued to be so after the erection of the
collegiate church, which still exists. Of this original chapel no trace
now remains. It stood on the north side of the present building, on part
of the ground now occupied by the existing north transept. This
transept, which was built in the present century, is not the immediate
successor of the old parish church, but takes the place of an aisle
which was built in 1646, the erection of which caused the removal of
what remained of the old parish church.
The existing church (Fig. 1172) consists of a chancel, a nave with north
and south transepts situated at its west end, a western tower and spire,
and a sacristy on the north side of the chancel. The whole building is
small in size and of low proportions, the height of the tower and spire
[Illustration: FIG. 1173.
The Collegiate Church of Corstorphine.