The church exterior presents white-washed roughcast walls and a green slate roof; the interior displays two stained glass windows, a gallery, and a reading desk and a pulpit dated 1610.

A Lay reader was an unqualified member of the clergy (usually a local person) who could read the services but could not perform christenings, marriages, or Communion, these duties being the bailiwick of the primary priest on his rounds of the valley.

He also served as Headmaster at Crosthwaite School in nearby Keswick and was known for his quick temper and firm discipline which put fear into both the congregation and pupils.

The school room fell into disrepair after closure but was refurbished in the late 1990s and reopened on 9 April 2000 by the Bishop of Carlisle as a place for quiet reflection.

Today, twice monthly Sunday services are conducted, and the church is open during the day for visitors and hill walkers to call in as they pass on their way to the fells.

[8] The stained-glass east window by Abbot & Co. of Lancaster dates to 1845 and was paid for by local residents to commemorate the rebuilding of the church.

A stained glass in the middle south wall window (the only other in the church) by Shrigley and Hunt displays St Michael in armour with a lion's head on his shoulder.

There are memorials to benefactors Moses and Sarah Mawson of Emerald Bank, and to the Clark brothers (slain in action during World War II).

A large wooden armorial with the Royal Coat of Arms of George II, dated 1737, hangs on the south wall.

[8] The poet William Wordsworth and his daughter Dora visited Newlands Church in May 1826 while on a walking tour of the fells from Rydal Mount.