North Church Manse, Back Road, Stromness

North Church Manse, located on Back Road in Stromness, dates back to 1865 and has undergone later alterations and additions. This former manse is a two-storey, three-bay building designed in a symmetrical T-plan with gothic details. It features a steeply gabled central bay that is advanced, along with a single-storey pitch-roofed wing extending to the north at the rear. The exterior is finished in re-pointed stugged and snecked sandstone ashlar, complemented by polished and droved sandstone dressings. A string course runs continuously between the ground and first floors, designed as stepped hood moulds that are corbelled over the door, with a stepped round-arched hood mould above the central first-floor window. The openings have chamfered reveals with long and short margins, and the corners are accentuated with long and short quoins.

On the southeast (principal) elevation, there is a roll-moulded architraved doorpiece with an armorial panel situated below the hood mould in the advanced central bay. Above this, there is a window on the first floor and a pointed-arched window at the gablehead, along with a decorative octagonal gablehead stack. The ground floor features a tripartite window arrangement, while the first floor has a bipartite window in the flanking bays.

The northwest (rear) elevation includes a two-bay advanced gabled wall with a single-storey three-bay block to the left. The two-bay block has a stair window at the centre and a gablehead window above, with additional windows on each floor in the left bay. The three-bay block has a blocked window in the centre and a window in the left bay, along with a modern uPVC door in the right bay.

On the southwest (side) elevation, there is a window on each floor in each bay, with a small gablehead window and gablehead stack in the two-bay block to the right. The ground floor features a bipartite window, while the first floor has a single window in a recessed bay to the outer left.

The northeast (side) elevation has a small window set to the right at each floor in a gabled bay to the left, with a gablehead stack above. There is a pitched projection with a lean-to addition extending east from the blank wall of the recessed bay to the right.

The building predominantly features six-pane timber sash and case windows, with a fixed stair window at the rear. The roof is covered with grey slate, and includes stone ridges, stone skews, harled coped gablehead stacks, decorative octagonal cans, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The interior was not seen during the inspection in 1997.

The property is enclosed by boundary walls made of random rubble with a rubble cope, sloping down to the east. There are coped square-plan rubble gatepiers located to the south, which support replacement wrought-iron gates.