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After an architectural competition, this design of Sir George Gilbert Scott was chosen from six others. Scott was asked to add two additional towers to his design. Oddly the cathedral terminates a vista down Melville Street but it is the rear of the Cathedral that the viewer sees and not the main front. The church was consecrated in 1879 but the two spires on the main front were not completed until during the First World War. The building was largely funded by two sisters Babara and Mary Walker, after whom the twin spires are named.

The tympanum over the lintel of the West Door depicts Christ holding the keys with John the Baptist on the left and St Peter on the right.

The building is a very visible Edinburgh landmark but is architecturally unsatisfying externally. The building seems quite heavy without the sense of great height that a gothic cathedral should have. This is down to the twin spires which had quite a large cross section but are not quite high enough proportionally. The central spire is 270ft. tall. The interior is much happier.