St John's Kirk, Balta Sound, Unst

Heritage listing

Category C Date Added 30/03/1998 Local Authority Shetland Islands Planning Authority Shetland Islands Parish Unst NGR HP 61464 08839 Coordinates 461464, 1208839 — Dated 1827, substantially reduced and rebuilt 1959. 3 x 1-bay hall church. Harl-pointed rubble and harled walls. Some droved sandstone dressings and concrete dressings, margins, doorpiece and belfry. Base course, margined openings to S elevation, projecting cills to windows. S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: gable to left with tall round-arched window at centre; entrance door in square 3-stage tower at right comprising round-arched surround with keystone containing 2-leaf panelled timber entrance door and radial fanlight, oculus centred above, concrete arcaded open-work belfry to upper stage. E ELEVATION: 4-bay elevation with bay to outer left obscured by advanced tower elevation comprising round-arched window at ground with upper stages matching S elevation; tall round-arched windows in bays to right. N GABLE: tall round-arched window at centre. E ELEVATION: single tall round-arched window to right of centre; elevation to left of centre obscured by church hall addition. 22-pane timber fixed-lights to principal windows, stained glass to N window. Modern concrete tile roof. INTERIOR: 2-leaf panelled timber inner entrance doors with glazed uppers. Timber fittings to nave including vertically-boarded wainscoting to nave, horizontally-boarded pews, and modern polygonal timber pulpit. CHURCH HALL: harl-pointed rubble T-plan hall comprising 2-bay elevation to W, blank gables to N and S, cement-rendered and lined link to church. BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS: small rubble-walled enclosure to E of church (marking extent of original church), advanced at centre of E wall with infilled lower portion of former entrance door. Rough

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.