Church Of St Matthew

The Church of St Matthew is a parish church built in 1868 by Alfred Waterhouse for Sir Roundell Palmer, the 1st Earl of Selborne. It is constructed from stone and tile in a Geometrical Gothic style, featuring bold decorative elements. The church has an aisleless nave with four bays, a chancel with two bays, a north vestry, a south porch, and a west tower. The roof is plain, with small triangular lucarnes above the nave. The walls are made of ashlar malmstone with Bath stone dressings, and include corbels at the eaves, stepped buttresses linked to moulded impost and cill bands, and a plinth. The nave has two-light windows with geometrical tracery, while the chancel has three, and there are five in the east and west windows. The tower consists of four stages, topped with a pyramid tile roof and a plain parapet above corbels, which features corner gargoyles. The bell stage has coupled traceried openings, and below a circular window (one of which is a clock face) are coupled lancets. A large west window is situated above the west doorway, with diagonal buttresses at the west corners and an octagonal stair turret on the southeast. The gabled south porch is supported by buttresses. Inside, the church is richly decorated with mid-Gothic fittings and includes commemorative monuments dedicated to the donating family.