Among the many Agatha Christie-related places I wanted to visit during our travels last September was St. Cuthbert’s church, although it almost didn’t happen.

The original St. Cuthbert’s was probably founded around 670 AD and was rebuilt many times at the same location. Edinburgh grew up all around it, the sprawling, spooky old graveyard surrounded by modern-day buildings.

The current church was built in the 1890s, but the steeple rises out of a tower from the previous church, built in 1775. In the base of that tower, is a small chapel. You can see it bumping out on the left side of the photo. That space was redesigned as a memorial chapel for the 157 people who died in service during World War I and dedicated in 1921, including one nurse.

It was in this pretty little chapel that Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan married Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller or Christie on September 11, 1930.

Neither one lived in Edinburgh. Max was in London when he wasn’t on an archeological dig and Agatha was living in Chelsea with her daughter, Rosalind. St. Cuthbert’s in Scotland was chosen for their wedding for two reasons, both very important to Christie.

The main reason was to avoid publicity at all costs. After the ruckus that transpired when she holed up in Harrogate following Archie’s divorce demand, Agatha was determined to keep newspaper reporters from learning about her personal life.

To keep the press off her trail, Agatha went on a little vacation to Skye in Scotland. She brought only her eleven-year-old daughter and two friends, Charlotte and Mary Fisher. Charlotte, known as Carlo, served both as Rosalind’s governess and as Agatha’s secretary. She and sister, Mary, were also close confidantes, supporting Agatha during the dark days when her first marriage ended.

They spent several weeks hiking and relaxing in Skye while the banns were read for the required three weeks prior to the wedding. When the requirements were completed, Agatha and her little family traveled to Edinburgh for a couple of days. Max took the train out from London. They were married in the little golden chapel and Max returned to London that night. Agatha left Edinburgh a little later, and they met up in London only long enough to drive to the Channel for the start of their honeymoon, completely in secret.

The other reason for marrying in Edinburgh was that Scotland’s rules were a bit looser. Agatha was, after all, a divorced woman. The Church of England, of which Agatha was a lifelong member, did not allow divorcees to remarry until 2002. On top of that, Max was Catholic, which also didn’t allow marriage to divorcees or to non-Catholics, for that matter.

The Church of Scotland does not consider marriage to be a sacrament, that is, eternally binding, although the remarriage of divorced people was only officially permitted after 1959. Apparently, Reverend MacLeod was broad-minded and ahead of his time. Or a Christie fan.

Of course, we had to visit St. Cuthbert’s while we were in Edinburgh. We really enjoyed the walk there and soaked up the atmosphere of the old mossy gravestones all around. But once we got to the front door, we were deeply disappointed to find a note saying that the church was closed!

We took photos outside and walked on to enjoy more of Edinburgh. What else could we do? Over the next few days, we drove through the fabulous Glencoe Pass to Oban on the harbor and then started east with the intention of following the coast to York.

Since Edinburgh is on the way, Don abruptly decided to stop and try St. Cuthbert’s one more time. We lucked out with a parking place just outside the graveyard, ran in, and found the door open!

The memorial chapel is lovely and the rest of the church is impressive as well. Several docents were on hand to talk about the art and the history, and we learned a lot from Charles, a retired lawyer.

St. Cuthbert’s has a small display of Christie memorabilia on the wall, including a copy of her marriage certificate. As most people know, both Agatha and Max lied about their ages because they were concerned about the number of years between them. Max said he was 31 when he was only twenty-six, and Agatha said she was 37 even though she would be turning 40 in just a few days.

Despite the age difference, Agatha and Max were married for 45 years and seem to have been quite happy. They pursued their own interests successfully, with each receiving honors from the Queen, but they also supported each other and were good companions. Max and Agatha no doubt thought it was worth all the surreptitious planning required!