Over two weekends at the end of February and early March, people of all ages and backgrounds came through the doors of Leith St. Andrew’s Church to view our exhibition The Heart of a Community. This exhibition marked the culmination of an exciting local history project combining archival research, oral interviews and community-led curation here in Leith. With the help of many local groups and individuals, we worked to document and celebrate the history of the building, its congregation and the wider community that has used this space since 1881. In this final blog post, I (Julian Grant, the project lead) will share a few insights into the process of pulling together oral history and archival research into this wonderful exhibition. In case you missed The Heart of a Community, it is hoped that digital versions of the exhibition panels will be made available here on the Leith St. Andrew’s Trust website in the near future.
Over the course of January and February, I carried out seven oral history interviews. This involved reaching out to possible interview candidates, making sure that they were keen to participate and understood what it involved, and then sitting down for a recorded interview roughly an hour in length. Four of the interviewees were members of the Leith St. Andrew’s congregation. Between them, these individuals had many decades of committed and caring involvement in the church. Their connections with Leith St. Andrew’s stretched back across the generations, weaving their family histories into the church and vice versa. And they also contributed to the vibrant religious and social life of the church through service on the Kirk Session, in supporting community initiatives, assisting with Sunday School, and participating in various other clubs and activities.
The other three interviewees are connected to Leith St. Andrew’s through a wider range of community activities: a local nursery which has called Leith St. Andrew’s home for over 50 years; a dance school based here; and the Capital Concert Band, which rehearses and performs in the church. These voices remind us that alongside meeting the religious needs of its congregants, Leith St. Andrew’s has also served a much wider array of community interests. It has provided a space for local groups to address practical needs and foster cultural expression and creativity in an inclusive, accessible and affordable way.
Taken together, these interviews provided an important complement to the archival research undertaken earlier in the project. The insights shared by interviewees gave a nuanced and personal view of the church’s history – a perspective rooted in their own memories and reflections, and expressed in their own words. This helped me understand . One interviewee conveyed the significance of her multigenerational connection to the church as she reflected on her father’s imprint on the place:
“Even when I walk around now, I’ll see something that’s his handwriting on the key. Or I go into a cupboard and my dad’s ladders are there, or his old overalls. He was very much a part of this place.”
And another interviewee gave a glimpse of a child’s perspective on important moments in the church’s history. He recalled listening in hushed silence up in the other gallery with the other children, while downstairs the congregations of Junction Road and St. Thomas’ churches discussed the weighty decision of whether to unite into one. Insights like these help us understand the emotions and textures of the diverse lives that have been woven into this church through the years.
With the archival research and oral history phases of the project complete, the Leith St. Andrew’s Trust team turned to putting together our exhibition, which we titled The Heart of a Community. First came wider questions of timing, format, layout, themes, and advertising. And then there was the hard work of distilling all the information gathered through archival research and oral interviews into a concise, accessible and compelling format began. This required going over interview transcripts, sifting through heaps of old photographs and documents, and selecting objects and artefacts that could help tell the story of Leith St. Andrew’s.
We designed the exhibition so that attendees entered through the main doors at the back of the church. As they walked down the side aisle towards the stage, they passed by a “History Wall” of photographs and memorabilia compiled by the congregation several months ago. The nine main exhibition panels were spread across the stage. The first three panels took a broad perspective, explaining the context of the project, the historical background of the church, and setting out a timeline of important events in the parallel history of Leith and Leith St. Andrew’s. The next three focused on particular themes that we uncovered during the research: the religious life of the church, multigenerational family connections, and relationships with other community groups in Leith. And the final three focused on challenges and changes facing the church: firstly, transitions and adaptions in the past; second, the closure of the church as a place of worship in December 2024; and finally, possible next steps for the building under community ownership.
In front of the exhibition panels were two large tables filled with artefacts and objects. Some of these related to the history of the church itself, like a complicated, era-spanning timeline of Leith’s churches (covered in an earlier blog post) or a large framed photograph of the Young Men’s Literary Society at Junction Road Church. Others came from the wider constellation of community groups that have used the church over the years: badges and belts from the guiding groups, toys and t-shirts from the nursery, and a box of food items distributed through the food bank which meets at Leith St. Andrew’s twice a week.
We were thrilled by the number and variety of people who came to look at the exhibition. Some came because of personal or family links to the church; others were more recent arrivals to Leith who wanted to learn about the history of their new neighbourhood; and still others were interested in seeing what the building might become in the next phase of its existence.
We also hosted an evening round table discussion featuring local author Jemma Neville, local historian and Spirit of Leithers heritage group administrator Fraser Parkinson, Leith St. Andrew’s Trust chair Nina Ballantyne and myself (in my role as the lead on this history project). Focusing on the role of the church in Scottish society and its relationship with changing meanings of community, this event allowed us to draw together the themes of the project into lively and thoughtful discussion with the audience. We reflected on the challenges and opportunities involved in finding new uses for old buildings today, so that spaces like Leith St. Andrew’s might continue to meet the evolving needs and aspirations of our communities.
It has been an absolute delight to work on this project. I have learned so much about the many intersecting communities that call this church home and am deeply grateful for all the people who have contributed to the research – in particular the interviewees who so generously and thoughtfully shared their memories with me. I hope that the process of gathering and sharing this rich historical information has formed a point of connection between the past and the future. Whether you have deep roots in this church or have come to it more recently, please keep an eye out for next steps as the Leith St. Andrew’s Trust builds towards a future for this building.
