Church of St Matthew and boundary wall and gate piers to St George's Place and Clarence Street

Church of Saint Matthew, completed between 1876 and 1879 to designs by Ewan Christian, with the tower finished and spire added in 1883 to 1884. The spire was removed in 1952, and the tower further reduced in height in 1972. A lean-to addition was built against the north aisle in 1988 to 1989. The interior was reordered in 1972 and again in 1999 to 2000.

MATERIALS

The church is constructed from coursed, rock-faced limestone with ashlar dressings. The nave and transept roofs are covered with clay tiles, the chancel and aisles with Welsh slate, and the truncated tower with bituminous felt.

PLAN

The church is orientated north-west to south-east, though ritual compass points are used throughout this description. It consists of a wide nave with cross-gabled, clerestoried aisles of four bays on the south side and three bays on the north side, narrow transepts, and an aisled chancel with a polygonal apse set at a lower ridge line than the nave. A truncated tower with a projecting north porch stands at the north-west corner, and there is a narthex at the west end.

EXTERIOR

The building is in the Early English Gothic Revival style. It makes extensive use of lancet windows with continuous hoodmoulds and two-light windows with plate tracery and label-stopped hoodmoulds. All doorways have double-chamfered, pointed surrounds with label-stopped hoodmoulds. The two-bay chancel is divided by offset buttresses, and the polygonal apse is divided by angle buttresses with offsets. All gables are stone coped, and their apexes, unless otherwise stated, contain triplets of stepped lancets framed within pointed ashlar surrounds with hoodmoulds. The nave and chancel both have a corbelled eaves course, and several rainwater heads are dated 1878.

The truncated tower stands at the north-west corner, at the junction with Clarence Street and Saint George's Place. A string course divides its first stage from the truncated second stage which now acts as a deep parapet to the flat roof behind. At the top of the tower's lowest stage facing Clarence Street there is an arcade of five trefoil-headed lancets separated by plain pilasters and linked by pointed hoodmoulds. The middle three openings are blind, whilst the openings to the flanks contain narrow, recessed lancets with leaded lights. An identical arcade exists on the tower's right-hand return to Saint George's Place, with the even-numbered openings being blind. Below this is a two-light window with plate tracery. The tower's left-hand return has a corbel table of five trefoil heads linked by pointed hoodmoulds. A gabled porch projects north across Clarence Street from the tower's lowest stage. Its double-chamfered doorway has roll-moulded arches, of which the inner arch is carried on short, corbelled shafts with moulded capitals. Infilling the archway is a late 20th-century glazed door with a fanlight and sidelights. To the left-hand side of the porch, the three cross gables of the north aisle rise behind a late 20th-century, lean-to addition. A clerestory of five lancets sits over the gables. Projecting to the left-hand side of the north aisle is the gabled north transept. It has a tall window of three lancets separated by shafts with annulets and circular, plain-moulded capitals and bases. Each lancet is linked by a pointed hoodmould with label stops. To the gable there is a rose window with plate tracery and three oculi with trefoil tracery. A recessed doorway to the transept's left-hand side has a hoodmould which continues round to the gabled left-hand return as a sill course beneath two lancets. Its gable contains a rose window with plate tracery and an oculus with quatrefoil tracery at the apex. A canted bay with a clerestory of two lancets joins the transept to the chancel. Of two bays, the chancel has two-light windows with plate tracery to the ground floor and a clerestory of stepped lancets framed within pointed ashlar surrounds. At the east end, each of the three bays of the polygonal apse contains a triplet of tall, stepped lancets within pointed ashlar surrounds with continuous hoodmoulds. Adjoining the south side of the chancel is the former, lean-to vestry. Its east face has a shouldered doorway and a three-light mullioned and transomed window.

The south elevation of the church is essentially similar to the north face, save for the absence of the tower and porch and the presence of a fourth cross-gable to the south aisle. As the south side of the church is built up against an adjoining building, only the aisle's cross-gables are visible at ground floor level. Its clerestory is comprised of seven lancets.

The gabled west face to Saint George's Place has a narthex with three doors to the ground floor. Between the centre and left-hand side doorway (now blocked internally) there is an arcade of seven lancets, whilst an arcade of five lancets sits between the centre and right-hand side doorway. The head of each lancet is carried on shafts with annulets, circular bases, and octagonal capitals. Above is a tall window of five lancets with shafts with annulets and circular bases and capitals. All the lancets are linked by pointed hoodmoulds. To the gable, set over a string course, there is a rose window with plate tracery. Its hoodmould, along with the hoodmould to the stepped lancets in the apex, continues across the gable as a string course.

INTERIOR

The foyer beneath the tower is accessed from the porch through a pointed, double-chamfered doorway with roll-moulded arches supported on paired shafts with polygonal plinths and circular bases and capitals. From the foyer, a doorway with a stilted arch with roll moulding carried on shafts with polygonal plinths and circular bases and capitals provides access to the main body of the church. The reverse side of this doorway has a pointed arch with roll moulding.

The nave arcade, which is of three bays on the north side and four bays on the south side, is comprised of double-chamfered, pointed arches carried on circular piers with octagonal bases and circular, plain moulded capitals. Over each arch is a label-stopped hoodmould. At the west end a late 20th-century, flat-roofed meeting room spans across two bays of the nave. All but the easternmost arches of the nave arcade, along with the transverse arches to the aisles, which are also pointed and double chamfered, were blocked up in the late 20th century to create meeting rooms. The clerestory windows have a wide splay. The nave roof is barrel vaulted with bracketed crown posts carried on vaulting shafts placed between the springing of each arch. Intermediate ribs are carried on eaves corbels.

The transepts are of three irregular bays, with each bay being comprised of pointed, double-chamfered arches. The two bays set beneath each gallery are lower and narrower, with central piers with octagonal bases and capitals. The transept's easternmost bays are canted towards the chancel at the crossing and have label-stopped hoodmoulds. Each transept has a steep gallery set beneath pointed, double-chamfered arches, of which the inner arch is carried on short, corbelled shafts. The galleries have pierced quatrefoil balustrades along with trussed rafter roofs and contain high-backed, wooden pews.

The chancel is approached by a dais of shallow steps which was moved slightly forward from its original position in the late 20th century. It has a pointed, double-chamfered chancel arch with roll moulding, of which the inner arch is carried on corbelled shafts with circular capitals and annulets. The chancel arcade is again formed of pointed, double chamfered arches. However, the circular, central piers have octagonal bases and circular capitals with dog-tooth ornamentation. The south aisle contains the organ chamber. The clerestory windows in the chancel have rere-arches of two-light windows with plate tracery, whilst the apse has rere-arches of three lancets under a single, pointed arch, all with shafts with annulets and circular capitals and bases. The chancel roof is barrel vaulted with ribs carried on vaulting shafts placed between the springing of each arch. Intermediate ribs are carried on eaves corbels. All responds throughout the main body of the church are comprised of short, corbelled shafts with stiff-leaf capitals.

PRINCIPAL FITTINGS

The church includes a number of fixtures and fittings designed by Ewan Christian, including a marble and mosaic reredos wall panel depicting the Ten Commandments, flanked by panels of decorative stonework with panels of mosaic; it is now screened off by a curtain. Standing on the north side of the dais is a wine glass-shaped pulpit of stone with a mosaic inlay of alabaster and marble. A Caen stone font stands in the foyer of the north porch. The original stained glass windows, and the west window of 1883, are by Clayton and Bell. The geometrical framework of the windows in the chancel is distinguished by a high proportion of silvery or white glass which was designed to let in lots of light.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES

To Saint George's Place there is a late 19th-century low boundary wall with chamfered, stone coping, formerly topped with iron railings. Two stone piers with pyramidal caps flank the entrance to the narthex's forecourt. An identical pier stands at the corner with Clarence Street, from where the wall, topped with late 20th-century railings, curves round to two identical piers which flank the short flight of stone steps leading up to the north porch. The walling and piers are of coursed, rock-faced limestone with ashlar coping and caps.