Blackhall St. Columba's Church came into existence on 4th March 1900, thanks to the efforts and generosity of Cramond Parish Church minister and congregation (Blackhall lay originally partly within the Cramond Parish boundary and was being developed as a suburb of Edinburgh).
The original Church building was of the old iron Church design, which was soon found to be too small for the rapidly growing congregation and in 1902 plans were made for a new Church.
A Glasgow architect, Mr. P. McGregor Chalmers was appointed, who had connections with Iona Abbey Church and in consequence the design of St. Columba's does resemble to some extent Iona Abbey Church. The new Church building was dedicated on May 28th, 1904.
The original plans were for a Church to seat 500 with the possibility of being extended to accommodate 900 if the district continued to expand. This became necessary in the early 1930s when the South aisle, session room, gallery and choir room were built and dedicated in 1935.
In the wall at the foot of the south aisle, near the vestry door was placed a piece of stone from Iona Abbey Church and another piece showing a Celtic Cross in the wall outside the session room (now the Church office). There are also a number of biblical texts inscribed into the walls of the Church.
It was also in the early thirties that an historic organ was purchased from Greyfriars Church. It is reputed to be the first organ ever to have been used in the Church of Scotland and so is the original "kist fu' o' whistles".
There are nine stained glass windows in the Church, six were donated by the Croall family in memory of Robert Croall of Craigcrook Castle who died in 1898 and 1 donated by Mr Oyama. In 2016 in the North Aisle, Douglas Hogg, a renowned Scottish artist crafted and donated 2 stained glass windows in memory of his parents George and Rae Hogg. The two in the apse represent Bread and Wine, while the three above the arch are of the crucifixion. The one by Mr Oyama in the porch is a modern abstract.
The small window in the North Aisle depicts Mary with the baby Jesus.
Two other features of the North Aisle apse are the decorative stone font and the Cross of Monte Cassino, made by soldiers during the Second World War and brought to St. Columba's by Rev. R.J. Watson Matthewson.
The original iron Church building was used as Church Halls until 1956 when it was demolished to make way for a new suite of halls which were opened in 1957, a further hall was added in 1978 to meet the growing needs of the Church and community.
The ministers who have served St. Columba's
- 1900 - 1912, Rev. Wm. B. Stevenson
- 1913 - 1916, Rev. Cecil Thornton
- 1916 - 1921, Rev. D. Wilson Baird
- 1921 - 1931, Rev. Andrew M. Snadden
- 1931 - 1946, Rev. Frederick R. Sim
- 1946 - 1952, Rev. James G. Matheson
- 1952 - 1975, Rev. J. Watson Mathewson
- 1976 - 1990, Rev. Ernest G. Sangster
- 1991 - 2014, Rev. Alex B. Douglas
- 2016 - 2019, Rev. Benjamin J A Abeledo