St John Cantius And St Nicholas R C Church, West Main Street, Broxburn

The Roman Catholic Church of St John Cantius and St Nicholas, located on West Main Street, Broxburn, was built in 1881, with the spire added in 1890. The architects were Thornton Shiells and Thomson of Edinburgh. The church is constructed in the Early English style and consists of a nave and aisles, with a semi-octagonal chancel. It is built of snecked rubble with ashlar dressings, featuring a base course and plinth course. The aisles have gablet roofs, with three bays to each side slightly extended.

A prominent spire rises from the liturgical southwest corner, comprising three stages with buttresses. Lancet windows are present on the ground, first, and second stages, the latter being louvred. The belfry stage is octagonal, featuring engaged pillars at the corners of the tower, terminating in plain finials. The top of the spire is also octagonal, with lucarnes and an iron finial. The liturgical west front is the main entrance, with a slightly projecting porch. The door is vertically timbered with ornamental iron hinges. A gablet sits above the porch, finished with a cross finial. Flanking the entrance are lancet windows with hoodmoulds linked to a string course. The large central west window is a two-light design with a cinquefoil in the head, flanked by lancets with connecting hoodmoulds. A vesica window is positioned at the apex of the gable, which has a cast-iron cross finial. A smaller spirelet topped with an iron cross is located on the northwest buttress. Paired lancets are present in the west front of the aisles.

Inside, the cast-iron arcades are slender with ornate stiff-leaf capitals. Arch ribs are supported by coffered panels between the arches. Within the aisles, beams are supported by columns and corbelled brackets. The apse has ribs springing from corbels, with compartmented spandrels containing trefoil recesses. The original high altar has been replaced with a modern reredos, and the original pulpit has been removed. Side altars are positioned with niches to the right and left of the chancel containing arched recesses; the left side has a single compartment, while the right has a tripartite design. Plain confessionals are located within the extended bays of the aisles, flanking the chancel, and a baptistry is found in the extended bay to the left of the porch. A rear gallery is also present.

A sacristy is linked to the main body of the church; it combines a steeply gabled section with paired lancets and a section with a shallow-pitched roof and a three-light decorated window, the latter of which was likely added later. The roofs are slated, with lucarnes in the nave roof.

A shrine, dating from the late 19th century and dedicated to the memory of Henry, 12th Earl of Buchan, who died in 1857, is located to the east of the church. This small, roughly square building is constructed in decorated Gothic style, incorporating a base course and plinth course. The south elevation has an arched doorway with red granite nook shafts, a moulded head, and a hoodmould. A blind ogee-arched niche sits at the gable head, also with nook shafts and a hoodmould, topped by an angel with a sword. The wooden two-leaf door has wrought iron grilles and hinges. The east and west elevations are gableted, each featuring a two-light window, a vesica head, a hoodmould, and flanking stepped buttresses with gablet heads.