Holy Trinity is the ‘mother church’ of St. Andrews in the sense that it seems to have come into being about 1144 when the urban settlement here became a fully organised municipality or burgh and continued to be the only church with a general responsibility for the spiritual wellbeing of the town and its associated country district for a prolonged period thereafter. To this day, indeed, it remains the accepted setting for all occasions most deeply affecting the life of the community as a whole.
The first mention of Holy Trinity is as a parish or priest’s district so called, but it can be assumed that the name was derived from a church of this dedication assigned to the Priory by the Bishop of St. Andrews in 1164. Under this arrangement – which applied to most of the parishes of what is usually called ‘the Medieval Scottish Church’ (from about 1100 to 1560) – the ‘cure of souls’ was delegated to a vicar or deputy of the nominal rector, drawing no more that a portion of the teinds ortithes (from the produce of each year) for his maintenance.
Love these, love the cathedral! Nice stuff. You’re Mother-in-law’s been tooting your horn so I came by to see the pictures. Very nice.