Whalsay Parish Church or Whalsay Kirk is a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

parish church on the island of

Whalsay Whalsay ( sco, Whalsa; non, Hvalsey or ''Hvals-øy'', meaning 'Whale Island') is the sixth largest of the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland. Geography Whalsay, also known as "The Bonnie Isle", is a peat-covered island in the Shetland I ...

, Shetland Islands,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It lies to the north of the village of Brough, on the southern part of a promontory known as

Kirk Ness Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

, connected to the mainland by a neck of land. It is the main burial ground for villagers of Whalsay. It is one of three churches in the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Nesting, the others being at Nesting and Lunnesting. The church is a

category B Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The church, dedicated to the Holy Rood, was within a ''

quoad sacra parish A ''quoad sacra'' parish is a parish of the Church of Scotland which does not represent a civil parish. That is, it had ecclesiastical functions but no local government functions. Since the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, civil parishes have ...

''. In 1845, Whalsay Church was reportedly visited by the parish minister eleven times in the year. It was intended that the church to be endowed as a Parliamentary church, but that did not occur. At the time, a new roof was added, and the seating was noted to be uncomfortable. Whalsay Kirk became a Category B listed building in 1974.

Architecture and fittings

This ancient church is located over the North Ness. The kirk is on the site of an earlier church (1733), apparently a simple T-shaped construction with arched doors and a galleried interior. The pulpit probably stood between the central windows of the south wall. The church was remodelled in 1867, in fieldstone with sandstone trimmings, as a galleried hall with a two-storey northern wing. It has a modern grey tile roof. There are four bays on the south wall, two with large highly positioned windows at the centre, flanked by two with smaller windows at a lower level. Projecting cills have been provided over the windows. The round-arched door on the western facade is topped by a polished ashlar

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

. The north wing, which serves as a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, contains a memorial to Alexander Shand. The former doorway on the east wall is topped by a central window dated 1767."Whalsay, Kirk Ness, Whalsay Kirk, Including Boundary Walls and Gatepiers, Nesting"
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 5 February 2013. The interior is fitted with 19th-century

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...

, horizontally boarded

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

s, a gallery, and a panelled pulpit on the north side accessed by stairs.

Grounds

The church is enclosed within a boundary wall which is built in rubble masonry. The walls have a coping in semicircular shape made in concrete. The entrance gate is fitted between pillars. The pillars are also made of cement concrete with pyramidal caps fitted with wrought-iron gate which is embedded with medallions. The kirkyard is a modern wall around the extensions to the north and west. There are war memorials (

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

s) in the kirkyard."HU5565 : World War 2 Memorial at Whalsay Kirk"
Geograph. Retrieved 5 February 2013.

References

External links

Whalsay Kirk on ShetlopediaPhotographs from Geograph
{{Whalsay Churches in Shetland Whalsay Category B listed buildings in Shetland