Elmslie Memorial Church

Elmslie Memorial United Church was completed in 1922 on the George Town waterfront, named for a nineteenth-century Presbyterian missionary, and its interest is in the roof. It was built by Caymanian shipwrights, and rather than construct a conventional ceiling they built what they knew: the timber ceiling is framed as an upturned schooner hull, with the ribs and planking visible overhead exactly as they would be in a boat. It is a small, plain, whitewashed building otherwise, with a churchyard beside it holding graves of seafaring families, and it is still in weekly use.

What you actually see

• The ceiling - framed as an upturned schooner hull by shipwrights.
• The churchyard - graves of the seafaring families of George Town.
• The waterfront position - directly opposite the harbour.
• The 1922 building - plain, whitewashed and still in use.

When to go

Year-round; open outside services, with Sunday morning the busiest. It takes fifteen minutes and sits on the waterfront walk. Cruise days fill the street outside.

Honest expectations

It is a small parish church and the visit is short; the ceiling is the whole reason to step in. It closes during services. There is no interpretation inside. The waterfront outside is heavily geared to cruise shopping.

Nearby

Fort George and the National Museum are a short walk along the waterfront.