Holy Trinity Church (also known as the Holy Trinity Parish Church or "town kirk") is the most historic church in St Andrews.[2] The church was initially built on land close to the south-east gable of the cathedral, around 1144 by Bishop Robert Kennedy.[2] The church was dedicated in 1234 by Bishop David de Bernham and then moved to a new site on the north side of South Street between 1410 and 1412 by Bishop Wardlaw.[3][2] Towards the end of June 1547, this was the location where John Knox first preached in public and to which he returned to give an inflammatory sermon on 4 June 1559 which led to the stripping of both the cathedral and ecclesiastical status.[4][5] Much of the architecture feature of the church was lost in the re-building by Robert Balfour between 1798 and 1800.[6] The church was later restored to a (more elaborately decorated) approximation of its medieval appearance between 1907 and 1909 by MacGregor Chalmers.[3][7] Only the north-western tower and spire with parts of the arcade arches were retained.[6]
