Canisbay Parish Church

Canisbay Parish Church has medieval origins and was significantly rebuilt in the 17th century, with dates of 1720 and 1724 noted. It underwent extensive renovations and alterations in 1833 and again in 1891. The church is harled with ashlar margins and dressings and features a cruciform plan with a square two-storey tower at the west gable. The tower has small windows, louvred in the upper storey, and a saddleback roof running east-west, topped with apex ball finials and a skewputt dated 1720.

The projecting centre south aisle, dated 1724, includes a round-headed entrance on the west elevation and a pointed-headed Y-traceried window in the south gable. A mural tombstone to the Groat family, erected in 1568, is located under the south gable window. The short, low north aisle has a crowstepped gable with a pointed-headed, two-light window in the north gable.

The south elevation features three long windows with multi-pane glazing that break the wallhead in gablets (added in 1891), along with a small blocked window in the southeast outer bay and a long pointed-headed window in the east gable. The roofs are slate.

Inside, the south aisle serves as an entrance porch, while the remainder of the church is arranged in a T-plan with seating in all three aisles. A square pulpit from the later 19th century, with a canted front and cusped panelling, is positioned against the south wall, and there are east and west galleries with panelled fronts, with access to the tower from the west gallery. The north aisle, which formerly housed the heritors' gallery (Sinclair of Mey), is framed by giant reeded pilasters that support a dentilled and corniced lintel. A worn 17th-century mural monument with flanking paired fluted Corinthian pilasters is located against the north wall.

The church contains various other 18th and 19th-century mural monuments and a simple stencilled frieze. The walled burial ground features interesting tombstones of fine quality, dating from the 17th to the 20th century, with some early stones re-cut by John Nicolson of Nybster in the later 19th century. There is also a monument by John Nicolson to his mother, dated 1868.