Church Of St Matthew

The Church of St Matthew was built between 1895 and 1904 by Nicholson and Corlette, with rainwater goods dated 1903. It is a parish church located on St Matthew’s Road, Chelston, Torquay. The building is constructed of rock-faced red sandstone with freestone dressings, with the tower’s top stage in ashlar, and has a slate roof with crested ridge tiles. It is designed in a Free Gothic style.

The church’s plan includes a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, a south-east tower, a north-east vestry, and porches on the north and south sides in the western bays. The exterior features 5-bay aisles with buttresses and traceried 2-light windows, except for one bay on the south side which has a 3-light window. The chancel has a 5-light traceried window with king mullions, and 3 segmental-headed windows light the church offices. The east wall of the north aisle is set back behind a vestry with an embattled parapet. The symmetrical west end has a 4-light traceried window and 3-light windows on the aisle ends. Shallow porches flank the west front; the north porch is freestone with a panelled door, and the south porch is sandstone with a door featuring strap hinges and pierced detail. The 3-stage tower includes a clasping buttress, a projecting stair turret and a belfry stage with octagonal corner turrets and 2-light traceried louvred windows. It has a pierced parapet with crosses.

The interior, described as "excellent work" by Pevsner, has high-quality Arts and Crafts fittings. The walls are of snecked stone with rusticated stone relieving arches. The nave features a 5-bay wagon roof with carved bosses, retaining original green stain and green, white, and red decoration on the principal timbers. The north and south arcades are characterised by octagonal piers and capitals carved with Arts and Crafts-style fishes and flowers and double-chamfered arches. The wide aisles have wagon roofs. A 3-bay timber chancel screen with wrought-iron panels and a carved canopy separates the chancel. The chancel’s wagon roof is also painted with original decoration. Arches provide access to the organ chamber (north) and vestry (south), with the latter containing a carved parclose screen. A timber drum pulpit features boldly carved symbols of the evangelists. A spectacular font ensemble is located at the west end, comprising a polished granite bowl, a cylindrical stem, octagonal corner shafts, and a flight of steps. The font cover, given by Gerald Moira, is a timber structure with a circle of carved angels, attached by a chain to a counterweight supported on a tall, trabiated, carved timber structure. Figures of St Mary and St George, carved by F Lynn Jenkins, stand on plain granite pedestals on either side of the font. Stained glass is attributed to AK Nicholson, although the east window bears the signatures of two interlocking Cs.