St Thomas' Roman Catholic Church, Keith

Description (exterior)

The church is a large cruciform structure, incorporating a two-storey presbytery to the rear (west). It is a striking Neo-Classical and Baroque design and quite like most other churches in Moray. The eastern front is faced with fine ashlar sandstone blocks, while the remainder of the building is of coursed granite rubble with dressed stones to the window surrounds and corners (quoins). The roofs of the church and presbytery are slated, as are the vertical sides of the large central dome - the dome itself is roofed with copper sheeting but is actually a mostly concrete structure.

The ornate east elevation forms the main entrance into the church. It is a three-bay, pilastered structure with a slightly advanced central bay. This bay has a tall rectangular doorway with a small, pedimented lintel above, along with a rectangular stone tablet. Above a wide frieze there is a rectangular window at gallery level. The central bay is topped by a pedimented gable and has shallow flanking buttresses or pilasters. The two outer bays of the east front are narrower and set slightly back. They each have rectangular-framed niches with statues and a rectangular tablet. They have shallow corner buttresses with decorative urn pinnacles, and above the wide frieze are ornate and large scroll mouldings (scrolled consoles), which rise to join the central bay. 

The rubble sides of the church are much plainer and simply-detailed. There are north and south transepts, each gabled and with large round-arched windows with stained glass. Small slit windows are set in the gableheads. At the east ends of the elevations are flat-roofed stair aisles or bays and there are low, lean-to side aisles with small rectangular windows. The crossing or centre of the church has a very large octagonal dome. It is mostly constructed in concrete and the sides are faced with slate. The dome is covered with copper sheeting and there is a large cross finial on top. There are oval windows (lucarnes) set in each angle of the dome. The rear of the building forms the large presbytery, which is the same height and width as the nave. It has rectangular windows and bay windows on the south side.