Church Of St Matthew

BRISTOL

ST315874 CLARE ROAD, Cotham 901-1/35/1156 (South side) 01/11/66 Church of St Matthew

II

Church. 1833-5. By Thomas Rickman. Altered c1989. Pennant rubble and limestone dressings, roof not visible. Aisled nave and W tower. Perpendicular Gothic Revival style. A large 6-light transomed window in the gabled E end, with sill and hood drips, flanked by octagonal ashlar corner turrets with trefoil-panelled crenellated parapets; 4-centred arched ribbed aisle doors with narrow trefoiled one-light windows. N aisle has 5 bays each with 3-light transomed windows separated by thin buttresses, with an ashlar crenellated parapet; the clerestory windows have 2 lights and are blind below the transom, with a parapet above. Similar S aisle. The W front has a central 4-stage tower with diagonal buttresses and an octagonal SW stair turret, diminishing sharply at weathered stages to a slender spirelet; 4-centred door in a label with foliage to the spandrels, 2-light 2nd-stage transomed window, and round, blind panel to 3rd stage; tall 2-light louvred belfry windows with transoms and cinquefoil heads, cornice parapet and pinnacles; 4-centred panelled doors to aisles, blocked to make a half-blind window to the S. INTERIOR: 4-bay arcade of thin, square-section chamfered shafts to wide 4-centred arches; niches with corbelled bases and crocketed ogee hoods and finials between the arches; flat, panelled ceiling. A c1989 mezzanine has been inserted at the height of the old galleries, with stairs up from the W, and the bottoms of the columns enclosed; below are offices and meeting rooms, services are held in the upper part. (Gomme A, Jenner M and Little B: Bristol, An Architectural History: Bristol: 1979-: 293).

Listing NGR: ST5875274079