St Kentigern’s Church at the Union Canal was closed in 1941, subsequently used as a nursery and a garage before being completely abandoned - or so it was thought.
In April 2015, police seized 105 cannabis plants from the St Peter’s Place church. Detective Inspector Stuart Harkness, who investigated the discovery, gave the drugs a street value of up to £75,500.
Police followed intelligence gathered from local residents, and worked with the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit to carry out the raid. The same month, officers uncovered £65,000 worth of the Class B drug at Tiki Tots in Morningside in the play centre’s attic space.
READ MORE - Abandoned Edinburgh church to be transformed into new luxury housing complex
Many had assumed St Kentigern’s had become completely derelict, with attempts to tear down the church being pushed 10 years earlier. Developers submitted plans to demolish the building, and erect a modern structure with a bar, restaurant and private flats.
Edinburgh heritage watchdog the Cockburn Association stepped in, with director David McDonald stating: “Apart from the building’s appealing scale and aesthetics, it is also one of the very few buildings of historic interest on this section of the Union Canal.
“Saving this building will help safeguard a diversity of building styles on the canal frontage.”
With the 19th century church saved, today it stands amongst the modern developments of the Union Canal - most likely not what the architect had in mind when the church was built in 1897.
On the Union Canal, Scottish architect John More Dick Peddie designed the Episcopalian church shortly before working on the Caledonian Hotel. The church took its name from Saint Kentigern, otherwise known as St Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow.
Born near Edinburgh in the sixth century, Kentigern's grandfather was the King of Lothian. When his mother got illegitimately pregnant, the King of Lothian sent her and her unborn child adrift on the Firth of Forth.
They reached safety in Culross, and when Kentigern reached manhood he travelled West and lay the foundations for what we now know as Glasgow. As for St Kentigern's church, it had a relatively short life and closed in 1941.
Five years after the drug discovery, a Scottish housing charity was given the green light to convert the church. LAR Housing Trust, which has over 30 sites around the country, were given permission to transform the building into mid-market rental homes.
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The organisations chief executive, Ann Leslie, said at the time: “The homes will have a really positive impact on the local communities in which they are situated.
“This site does just that, as the church is a beautiful building in a lovely part of the city and once converted will allow families who have their roots in the area to be able to remain there. This is a massive and complicated job and we will shortly be going out to tender for the work.
“This site certainly has a colourful past, but the external façade of the building is superb and once converted this will be a special place to live.”
Work was supposed to begin in Spring 2021, though was delayed due to covid-19. On a short walk to the site, Edinburgh Live found workers in the process of transforming the forgotten church - maintaining its historic appearance.
Thankfully, the neon glow of the builders high-vis jackets was the only green stuff in sight.
