Semblister Church, Semblister

Semblister Church, built in 1780 with 19th-century additions, is a near-symmetrical hall church with three one-bay sections, featuring a porch and vestry added to the west and east gables. The exterior is constructed of lime harl pointed rubble walls, accented with stugged and droved sandstone ashlar margins and dressings.

The west elevation, which serves as the entrance, is symmetrical and includes a single-storey gabled entrance porch that centers the elevation. There is a window on the west side of the porch and a door on the south side, with a window located in the principal gable behind. The south elevation is nearly symmetrical, consisting of three bays with the center bay slightly offset to the left. The east elevation features a symmetrical, blank-gabled vestry with a door on the south side and a window on the north side. The north elevation mirrors the south elevation.

The church has timber sash and case windows throughout, all 12-pane except for a 4-pane window in the principal gable on the west side. The roofs are covered with purple-grey slate, complemented by ashlar skew copes and cast-iron gutters and downpipes with hoppers. There is a stugged and droved sandstone ashlar and rubble chimney stack on the vestry, topped with a circular can.

Inside, a round-arched margined door leads from the entrance porch into the hall. The hall features a central flagged aisle and timber fittings, including some vertically-boarded timber wainscoting. A large raked gallery supported by cast-iron columns is accessed by a dog-leg stair in the northwest corner, with horizontally-boarded pews and a panelled front. The pulpit is located within an enclosure on the east wall, featuring stop-chamfered panelling, a stair on the right with a cast-iron baluster, and a canted and panelled pulpit front. The back of the pulpit is panelled and pilastered, topped with a canted and corniced canopy that has an ogee dome with a ball finial at the apex. The ceiling is plain and coombed, with two-pane timber skylights. The vestry contains a four-panel timber door and a timber chimneypiece.