Kilmur Church of Scotland, North Uist

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Kilmuir church sits on the shore of a small lochan, just beyond the Balranald Nature Reserve. Built in the local grey stone, the church has a single, two-storey tower with a pyramidal spire.  

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The church was designed by Alexander Shairp in 1892 and subsequently opened two years later in 1894. The son of a farmer, Shairp, was born in 1855 in Stirlingshire and began his career as a Law Clerk. By the 1880s he was practising not only as an architect but also as a land agent and civil engineer, mainly in the Oban area where he resided.

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Inside, the church has an unusual T-shape layout, with a trio of lancet windows on the western side, which flood it with natural light. The curved ceiling and bottom half of the walls are clad in varnished pitch pine, giving it a maritime air.