New College, Edinburgh

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New College


UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

Edinburgh,
Midlothian


New College on The Mound
Principal:
Location
Grid reference: NT25467362
Location: 55°56’59"N, 3°11’43"W

New College is a college with the University of Edinburgh, housed in a historic building, with the School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Students in M.A., M.Th. and Ph.D. degree programmes come from over 30 countries,[1] and are taught by almost 40 full-time members of the academic staff.[2] New College is situated on The Mound in the north of Edinburgh's Old Town.

New College is located in the city centre on Mound Place, overlooking Princes Street Gardens, the Scottish National Gallery, and Princes Street. The neo-gothic building was designed by the respected 19th century architect William Henry Playfair.

The Old Quad

New College originally opened its doors in 1846 as a college of the Free Church of Scotland, later of the United Free Church of Scotland, and since 1935 has been the home of the School of Divinity (formerly the Faculty of Divinity) of the University of Edinburgh.[3] As "New College" it continues the historical commitment to offer a programme of academic preparation for ministry in the Church of Scotland, also made use of by ministerial candidates from other churches. In the 1970s the Faculty of Divinity also began offering undergraduate degrees in Theology and Religious Studies, and students in these programmes now make up the majority of the nearly 300 undergraduates enrolled in any given year.[4]

History

The founding of New College came as a result of a religious conflict that emerged from the Disruption of 1843 in which clergy and laity left the established Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland – free from state connections and submitting only to the authority of Christ. New College was established as an institution for the Free Church of Scotland to educate future ministers and the Scottish leadership, who would in turn guide the moral and religious lives of the Scottish people. New College opened its doors to 168 students in November 1843 and, under the guidance of its first principal Thomas Chalmers, oversaw the construction of the current building.[4] A competition for design of the Free High Church and Free Church College was held in 1844 and, though not one of the winners, the design by William Henry Playfair was chosen and built 1845–1850.[5] At the formation of the United Free Church, the United Free Church was granted the buildings, and the continuing Free Church operated from new premises in 1907. This Free Church College was renamed Edinburgh Theological Seminary in 2014.

Prior to the 1929 reunion of the Church of Scotland, candidates for the ministry in the United Free Church studied at New College, whilst candidates for the old Church of Scotland studied in the Divinity Faculty of the University of Edinburgh. During the 1930s the two institutions came together, sharing the New College site on The Mound. "New College" can designate the site itself, or the legal entity that continues to function in an official relationship with the Church of Scotland, the Principal of New College appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and responsible particularly for Church of Scotland candidates for ministry.

As part of the celebration of the 175th anniversary of New College, the School of Divinity adopted the motto "Quaerite et Invenietis" (Seek and You Shall Find),[6] voted for by the staff and students of the college, and was granted a Coat of Arms by Joseph Morrow, the current Lord Lyon King of Arms and an alumnus of New College.[7]

Statue of John Knox in the quadrangle

Members of academic staff are all employees of the University of Edinburgh, and are today an international body of scholars of various persuasions in religious matters.

Within the college

Research Centres

New College is home to several research centres: the Centre for the Study of World Christianity (established by Andrew F. Walls, which has its own collection of archival material on the history of Christian missions); the Centre for Theology and Public Issues; and the centre for the Study of Christian Origins.[8][9]

Library

New College Library

The New College library was founded in 1843 as the Library of the Free Church College. It is the largest single-site theological library in the United Kingdom, holding a large collection of manuscripts, including the papers of Thomas Chalmers, John Baillie, J. H. Oldham and James S. Stewart.[10][11]

The library is situated in the eastern wing of New College, and its reading hall was originally built as the sanctuary of the Free High Kirk.

Rainy Hall

Rainy Hall is a gothic revival dining hall, adorned with heraldry and featuring a hammerbeam roof. It is at the centre of college life, used by students and faculty for conversation and meals.[12]

General Assembly Hall

The 1910 World Missionary Conference held in the General Assembly Hall

As well as the teaching facilities and the library, the New College complex includes the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, which remains the property of the Church, and where annual meetings of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland are held.[13] This hall was used during the 1910 World Missionary Conference, and was the temporary home for the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament from its establishment in 1999 until the completion of the new Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood in 2004.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh". University of Edinburgh. http://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity. 
  2. ↑ "Academic Staff". University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/our-people/academic-staff. 
  3. ↑ "Faculty of Divinity". http://ourhistory.is.ed.ac.uk/index.php/Faculty_of_Divinity. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brown, Stewart J. (1996). "The Disruption and the Dream: The Making of New College 1843–1861". in Wright, David F.. Disruption to Diversity: Edinburgh Divinity 1846-1996. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. pp. 29–50. ISBN 978-0567085177. 
  5. ↑ Goold, David (1 September 2022). "Free High Church and Free Church College". http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=101658. 
  6. ↑ "Students vote for new motto for New College Coat of Arms | School of Divinity" (in en). 2024-03-19. https://divinity.ed.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/archive/2021/175-news/new-motto-for-new-college-coat-of-arms. 
  7. ↑ "The New College Coat of Arms | School of Divinity" (in en). 2024-03-19. https://divinity.ed.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/archive/2021/175-news/the-new-college-coat-of-arms. 
  8. ↑ "Research centres". University of Edinburgh. http://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/research/centres. 
  9. ↑ "Centre for the Study of Christian Origins" (in en). 2024-09-17. https://divinity.ed.ac.uk/csco. 
  10. ↑ Howard, John (1996). "New College Library". in Wright, David F.. Disruption to Diversity: Edinburgh Divinity 1846-1996. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. pp. 187–201. ISBN 978-0567085177. 
  11. ↑ "New College Library". University of Edinburgh. http://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/about/library. 
  12. ↑ "Rainy Hall". http://www.scottish-places.info/scotgaz/features/featurefirst10371.html. 
  13. ↑ "The General Assembly: a guide to what goes on". http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about_us/general_assembly/guide_to_the_assembly. 
  14. ↑ Jones, Clyve, ed (2009). A Short History of Parliament: England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland. Suffolk: The Boydell Press. pp. 359. ISBN 978-1843835035. 
  • Watt, Hugh (1946). New College, Edinburgh: A Centenary History. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. 
  • Wright, David F., ed (1996). "The Disruption and the Dream: The Making of New College 1843–1861". Disruption to Diversity: Edinburgh Divinity 1846-1996. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0567085177. 
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