Westray United Free Church Of Scotland, Braehead, Westray

Westray United Free Church of Scotland, Braehead, Westray

A church and vestry built in 1866, with a church hall added in 1899. The church is a 5-bay rectangular-plan building with harled walls, featuring round-headed upper storey windows. A rear hall and former vestry have exposed flagstone and harled surfaces in places.

The north-east (entrance) elevation has a round-headed doorway flanked by tall round-headed windows, with a blocked round-headed window centred above the door. The south-east elevation has a door to the far right with a fanlight above it, four ground floor windows evenly spaced to the left, and five round-headed windows centred above. A 3-bay single storey linking wing (former vestry) is set back to the left, with a door to its right (with fanlight above), a window to its left, and a door to its far left. An advanced 2-bay church hall to the far left has two windows, and a lean-to porch to the left has a door.

The south-west elevation shows the church's gable partially obscured by a later wing. Two blocked round-headed windows sit at upper level to the left and right, with a small central circular window above them. Three windows serve the church hall, and a lean-to porch stands to the right. The north-west elevation displays two windows to the church hall gable wall, with a central stone plaque above inscribed 'The Reid Memorial Hall 1899'. The linking wing to the left has a window and a former door (now a window). The church to the left has a door with fanlight, four ground floor windows evenly spaced to the right of the door, and five round-headed windows centred above.

Ground floor windows to the church are 12-pane timber with tilting single panes for ventilation. The round-headed windows have intersecting astragals. The linking wing has a 12-pane timber sash and case window, while the hall has 4-pane and 8-pane timber sash and case windows. Doors are timber boarded, with a panelled 2-leaf door at the north-east. The roofs are pitched Caithness slate with raised flat skews. A finial tops the north-east church gable apex, a coped ridge stack serves the linking wing, a corniced stack base sits at the south-east hall gable apex, and a pitched bellcote with an open north-west and south-east aspect stands at the north-west hall gable apex, housing a single bell.

The interior features flights of stairs to the left and right of the north-east entrance door. The porch has orange painted wainscoting and a sloping ceiling to accommodate tiered pews above. Timber panelled doors left and right lead into the nave. The church interior is predominantly yellow and green: yellow painted timber wainscoting, yellow painted pews and walls, green painted window surrounds, and green painted cornicing and beams. Fixed timber box pews occupy the centre and sides, with beaded detail to the front pews. A central timber pulpit sits on the south-west wall, accessed by steps to the left and right with decorative metal balustrades and timber ball finials to the outer newel post. The pulpit has decorative panelling to its front and a pointed-arched sounding board. Timber panelled flanking doors open beside the pulpit, with flanking round-arched windows above featuring intersecting tracery. A timber organ stands in front of the pulpit. Galleries run along the north-west, north-east and south-east elevations with timber panelled frontages; the north-east gallery has a clock and a window to its rear. The galleries are supported by chamfered timber piers. Quatrefoil roundels decorate the ceiling. The hall interior is simpler, with a timber floor, orange painted wainscoting along walls and window splays, timber pews, and a coved ceiling.

An exposed rubble garden wall extends south-westwards from the church hall porch, enclosing a large garden on three sides.