Description
Over the years we have had some people who are so keen about our usual 2-hour Christian Heritage Tour that they want more! This has now developed into a 4-hour tour, which we call the Extended Christian Heritage Tour. The first part covers the same material as the Christian Heritage Tour, but after lunch we stay for a while in the historical St Columba’s Free Church and learn about the 19th century Christian revivals which impacted Scotland and the world, and about the Christian worldview from Edinburgh with pioneers in medicine, education, social reforms and science. We see where D.L. Moody preached in 1874, and where Queen Elizabeth addressed the leaders of the Free Church.
We continue on the street and it is pointed out where John Wesley preached to crowds on the Royal Mile, where the World Missionary Conference of 1910 was held. Following this we go into the beautiful Presbytery Hall (week days only), and see the famous Disruption painting, hear about some of the great Reformers and missionaries, and look at the college’s own original National Covenant document.
Our journey continues to Greyfriars Kirk graveyard where we see the monument to the 18,000 Covenanters who suffered for their faith in the 17th century, and then walk to the Covenanters’ Prison, where hundreds of them were held in appalling conditions. We see the graves of key Christians, such as Alexander Henderson, the architect of the Covenant documents, and William Carstairs, the chaplain to William of Orange. Shortly after this, we will see where George Whitefield preached to a crowd of almost 20,000 in the 18th century.
The tour progresses to the Royal Mile and to St Giles’ Cathedral where we learn about the history of this 12th century church, and about St Margaret and her son King David I. We also hear more about the Reformation. At the back of the cathedral, we locate the grave of John Knox, and point out the place where the slavery abolition movement began in 1778. If we have time, we will also see where Samuel Rutherford’s Lex Rex book was publicly burned by the hangman.
