Mansfield Traquair, Edinburgh

Mansfield Traquair is the former Mansfield Place Church, now a venue for events in Edinburgh. Its Scottish neo-Romanesque design came from Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, and the building was completed in 1885. The interior is the remarkable part of its story: Phoebe Anna Traquair decorated it with murals between 1893 and 1901, in work regarded as her best known and often likened to Edinburgh’s Sistine Chapel.

After years of neglect, the building was brought back through restoration. The murals themselves were restored between 2003 and 2005. Today, the sanctuary hosts varied events, while the rest of the building provides offices for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. The church is a Category A listed building, but its surviving painted interior is the detail that gives Mansfield Traquair its special character.