Phoebe Traquair (1852 – 1936) was an Irish born artist who lived in Edinburgh from 1874. Her best known work is the set of murals in the church in Mansfield Place, which she created between 1893 and 1901. The church is at the foot of Broughton Street, at the East end of the New Town. It is now called the Mansfield Traquair Centre and is a venue for weddings and conferences as well as having a suite of offices and meeting rooms.
In 1992, the Friends of Mansfield were formed to take action to preserve first the building and then the murals. The painstaking restoration of the murals involved removing surface dirt and varnish, repairing plaster, repainting as required and revarnishing. That maintenance work continues.
The Friends open the Centre to visitors on a regualr basis (currently the second Sunday of every month) and give guided tours of the murals.
