Whitsome Church

Whitsome Church is a rectangular-plan, Gothic church built in 1803, with alterations and additions in 1912. It features a four-bay nave, a gabled north aisle, an east-facing chancel of lower pitch and an adjoining single-storey vestry to the southeast, a single-storey porch to the west, and a square-plan, three-stage tower centered on the south wall. The church is largely constructed of harl pointed rubble sandstone, with squared and coursed stone to the southeast elevation and weathered stone elsewhere. Dressings are of droved and polished sandstone, with some cream ashlar sandstone to the vestry. A raised base course and quoins are present, along with tooled long and short surrounds to the pointed arched openings, lightly droved margins, projecting cills, and hoodmoulds over the east and west windows. Gabletted skewputts are also a feature. The tower has prominent quoins at the base and corniced upper stages, incorporating square-plan columns to the belfry.

The southeast (entrance) elevation incorporates an engaged tower with recessed panelling at the second stage and a pointed-arched, columnar birdcage belfry at the third, containing a bell dated 1645. It is topped with a squat polygonal ashlar spire and finial. Regularly placed windows are present in two bays to the left and right. A recessed porch to the outer left has a two-leaf boarded timber door. An advanced piended vestry, with an off-centre boarded timber door to the left, is located to the outer right, and a taller chancel is set behind.

The northwest (street) elevation has a gabled bay advanced at the center (north aisle) with rounded angles, corbel detailing beneath bracketed skewputts, and a single window aligned beneath the apex. Single windows are present in the recessed bays to the left and right. A square-headed window is centered in the recessed porch to the outer right. A lower gabled wing, which is the chancel, is recessed to the outer left, surmounted by a cruciform finial.

Throughout the church, replacement glazing is applied, consisting of timber sash and case windows with intersecting tracery and fixed Y-traceried windows with a lead-effect pattern. The roof is of grey slate, with stepped stone skews and some cast-iron rainwater goods.

Internally, the church was reoriented in 1912. A boarded timber floor is laid throughout, with stone slabs in the chancel. The nave features an open timber hammerbeam ceiling with moulded sandstone springers. The chancel has a boarded timber barrel-vaulted ceiling. Boarded timber dado panelling is present, with whitewashed walls above, and chamfered timber cills. Timber pews are reoriented to face east in the nave. A large sandstone segmental arch frames the north aisle, and pews face south. The timber pulpit has decorative carving, while a round-arched chancel arch is defined by tooled sandstone blocks, featuring decorative carving and stencil panelling to the timber communion table set within, alongside timber chairs. An octagonal sandstone font is also located within the church.

The church includes boundary walls with round-arched rubble coping, enclosing the site, along with stop-chamfered, square-plan corniced gatepiers with pyramidal caps and decorative wrought-iron gates flanking the entrance. The 1910 interior fittings, designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, were given in memory of Alexander Low of Laws, senator of the College of Justice and elder of Whitsome parish. Primarily replacement light fittings are in place, along with decorative brass oil lamps flanking the chancel arch. A boarded timber door accesses the vestry to the right.