St Margaret's Church
A view looking west along Lanark Road in the 1890s showing the faint outline of the iron kirk in the distance
The expansion of the population of Juniper Green in the second half of the 19th Century added to the problems of the Church of Scotland's members living in Juniper Green. In 1890 the new Craiglockhart Church was completed and the Iron Kirk (a form of prefabricated building) which the congregation had been using there became available for use elsewhere. A total of 120 members and adherents of the Church of Scotland in Juniper Green signed a petition to the Presbytery of Edinburgh for the Iron Kirk to be removed to Juniper Green. This was agreed.
A site was found at what was then the south-east corner of the village at the corner of Lanark Road and Woodhall Drive. A minister, the Rev Charles Short, was called and the Iron Kirk was re-erected and opened with 350 seats on 21st February, 1892. On that day 250 people trudged through snow to hear the opening sermon by the well known blind preacher and hymn writer, the Rev George Mathieson.
The foundation of a new stone church was laid on the first Saturday in June, 1895, and the new church, later to be called St Margaret's, was opened by the Moderator of the General assembly in January, 1897.
The last minister of St Margaret's as an independent congregation was the Rev. Eric A. M. Davidson who came on 24 June 1962 and retired on 3rd February 1973.
More details on the history of St Margaret's Church at Juniper Green can be found at [http://www.jgpc.org.uk/]