A monument to idolatrie

The King's Chapel of the collegiate church was built between 1460-77 by James III and was originally a two storey high vaulted structure.

The lower chapel is dedicated to the pagan saint St. Triduana whose shrine at Restalrig had long been a place of pilgrimage for those afflicted with diseases of the eye.

It is said that James IV was a frequent visitor and gave offerings for masses in 1496 while the royal artillary was gathered nearby for his mission to England.

During the siege of Leith in 1560 the main Enlish camp was based here as they assisted in ending the 12 year encampment of French troops at Leith, an arrangement under the Auld Alliance which was becoming less popular with Protestant Scots.

Only the lower chapel survives today following the chapel's partial destruction during the Scottish Reformation of 1560 when Restalrig Kirk, "a monument to idolatrie" was ordered to be "raysit and utterlei castin downe and destroyed". This was only partially achieved and the site continued to be used for burials by the lairds of Restalrig. The present church was rebuilt in 1836 but it wasn't until 1912 that the rights passed to the Church of Scotland and Restalrig became a parish again.