St Matthew's Church, Silverhill
Encyclopedia
St Matthew's Church is an Anglican
church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings
, a town and borough
in the English county of East Sussex
. The present building, a large brick structure of 1884 by ecclesiastical architect John Loughborough Pearson
, replaced a much smaller church founded in 1860 when Silverhill began to grow from an agricultural area with scattered cottages into a suburb of the increasingly fashionable seaside resort
of Hastings. Although a planned tower was never built, the "imposing" church dominates its steeply sloping site; and although its architect—a leading Gothic Revivalist
—considered it one of his lesser works, it has been described as "outstanding" and "architecturally inventive". English Heritage
has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
coast at the bottom of a narrow valley gave it strategic advantages, and it was a successful fishing port and the chief Cinque Port. The seven medieval churches it supported by the late 13th century had declined to two—All Saints and St Clement's—by 1801, but by then the town was about to enter its most rapid period of growth, which saw it expand well beyond the confines of the Bourne valley. Daytrippers, holidaymakers and permanent residents were attracted by better transport links (especially from London
) and the prestige of royal patronage (conferred by visits by various members of the British Royal Family), and London builder and speculator James Burton
conceived and laid out a whole new town, St Leonards-on-Sea
, immediately west of Hastings in the 1820s to create an upper-class rival to the old resort.
Silverhill was one of the first suburbs to develop during the 19th-century growth period. Originally part of the ancient manor
of Stone, the land belonging to the farm from which the area takes its name was gradually sold off for development from the 1850s, when its owner faced financial difficulties. Development had first been stimulated by the building of two turnpikes
in quick succession—one to Sedlescombe
in 1837 and another to Battle
the following year—which significantly shortened the distance from St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings respectively to London. Housing, inns, a hotel, a brickworks and a windmill were built around the junction of these two routes.
The first Christian presence in Silverhill was the Silver Hill Independent Chapel
, which started in a rented room in 1853, moved to a proper chapel in 1857 and joined the English Presbyterian Church (as Silverhill Presbyterian Church) in 1862. The nearest Anglican churches, at Hollington
(Church in the Wood
) and St Leonards-on-Sea (St Leonard's Church), were distant, and their vicars antagonised local residents by criticising and threatening them for attending the independent chapel's meetings instead. The Anglican community realised the need to establish a church of their own in Silverhill. Rev. John Cumberlege (or Cumberledge), a retired vicar, lived in a large villa with substantial gardens in the centre of Silverhill. He donated some of his land to allow a church to be built, and also paid for its construction. The first St Matthew's Church was founded on that saint's feast day, 21 September 1860; local philanthropist and church benefactor Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave
(widow of a former Mayor of Hastings) laid the first stone. George Voysey, a local architect, designed the stone, brick and stucco
building, which opened for worship on 16 May 1861.
St Matthew's was in the parish of St Leonard's Church at first, but in 1870 an Act of Parliament
separated it from its mother church and gave it a parish of its own. At the same time, Rev. Cumberlege's widow, who held the advowson
of the church, donated £3,000 (£ as of ) to offset the costs of construction. Some of this was used to add a tower and porch to the building in 1874. A school had been founded on the south side of the church as well; in 1878 this moved to a larger site on nearby Strood Road.
As Silverhill's growth continued, a larger church building was soon needed. (The population of 73 in 1811 had grown to 183 in 1861; by 1881 there were 1,261 residents.) In 1885, land behind the original church was bought, and the rector
Rev. Francis Newton commissioned John Loughborough Pearson
—a prominent Gothic Revival architect
responsible for Truro Cathedral
, Brisbane Cathedral
and several churches in Sussex and other parts of Britain—to design a new St Matthew's Church on the steeply sloping site. Rev. Newton had seen Pearson's recently completed church at Hove
, St Barnabas
, and approved of it; the two churches share many stylistic similarities. The new church, built by a Mr Shillitoe, cost £11,201 (£ as of ) exclusive of the planned tower and spire. Although the stump of a tower was added in 1896 by a different builder (C.W. Pelling Hurrell) but matching Pearson's design, money soon ran out and no more was built. A tiny wooden flèche
was added to the roof instead. The stump of the tower was subsequently converted into a porch.
The original church building, fronting the London Road, was converted into the parish hall after the new church opened; it survived until 1959, when a new hall was built on the same site. Meanwhile, the new church was fitted out with a high-quality organ
by the Henry Willis & Sons
firm, bought for £1,064 in 1890 (£ as of ), and a stone reredos
by Aston Webb
, which was acquired in 1900 and dedicated the following year. Some stained glass
memorial windows were added in 1892, complementing others which had been removed from the 1860 church and reinstalled in the new building.
St Matthew's Church extended its reach further northwards in 1912 by founding a mission chapel on Duke Road (at 50.8705°N 0.5573°W). The first brick was laid on 27 June 1912 and the building opened soon afterwards as St Matthew's Mission Hall. It later closed and was used as an artificial flower
factory, but in 1994 it became a place of worship again when the St Leonards Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church—founded nine years earlier as a house church
—bought it. The Pentecostalist
congregation have renamed the building "His Place Community Church Centre" but still use it as of .
The church has a nave
with aisles on both sides, a chancel
with a polygonal apse
at the east end, transept
s, a side chapel and a balancing organ chamber leading off the chancel, a porch on both sides at the west end (one incorporated into the stump of the tower, the other with an adjoining meeting room), a vestry
and a small flèche
of wood with leaded shingles
. There is a clerestorey between the aisles and the roof: instead of windows, it has blank quatrefoil-shaped panels. Red brick laid in the English bond pattern
is the predominant material on the outside, although there are some stone dressings as well; inside, both red and yellow brick is used to create multicoloured decorative bands. The yellow brick was made at Sittingbourne
in Kent.
All windows are lancets
. The three in the north transept are very tall and have two quatrefoil
s above, while in the south transept two narrower windows with intricate tracery
are separated by a thick mullion
. There is also a quatrefoil and a sexfoil (six-lobed round window) in this wall. The aisles have three-light lancet windows, and there is a large lancet topped by a quatrefoil in the west wall of the nave. The Heaton, Butler and Bayne
glass firm designed the stained glass
in this window in 1892. Each lancet in the apse is separated by a thin stone shaft inside and out. This feature was copied from St Barnabas Church, Hove
.
Inside, the lack of a chancel arch creates a large single space, enhanced by the nave and aisles having the same roofline. The roof is timber-framed
with king post
s, tie-beams and double trusses (in the absence of a chancel arch, these form the only demarcation between the nave and chancel). There is also a smaller timber-framed roof in the separate south chapel.
Fittings include Aston Webb's stone reredos
—in a triptych
form with carved figures and tracery
on each panel—an octagonal carved stone font
dating from 1888, the high-quality Willis organ of 1890 (housed in its own chamber off the chancel), and a stone pulpit
donated by Rev. Cumberlege's widow and designed by Pearson himself.
on 14 September 1976, and was later regraded at the equivalent Grade II*. (Grade B was part of a mostly superseded scale used by English Heritage only for Anglican churches.) As a Grade II*-listed building, it is considered "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 13 Grade II* listed buildings, and 535 listed buildings of all grades, in the borough of Hastings.
The parish covers the same territory as it did when it was created in 1870: the boundaries are St Helen's Road (the A2101) in the east; Briers Road, Perth Road and Stonehouse Drive to the north; the postwar Ponswood industrial estate to the west; and the Bohemia suburb to the south (beyond Springfield Road, Tower Road and Newgate Road).
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, a town and borough
Borough status in the United Kingdom
Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...
in the English county of East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
. The present building, a large brick structure of 1884 by ecclesiastical architect John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson was a Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency unrivalled in his generation.-Early life and education:Pearson was born in Brussels, Belgium on 5...
, replaced a much smaller church founded in 1860 when Silverhill began to grow from an agricultural area with scattered cottages into a suburb of the increasingly fashionable seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
of Hastings. Although a planned tower was never built, the "imposing" church dominates its steeply sloping site; and although its architect—a leading Gothic Revivalist
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
—considered it one of his lesser works, it has been described as "outstanding" and "architecturally inventive". English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
History
As early as 928, when it was first described in writing, Hastings was an important town. Its position on the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
coast at the bottom of a narrow valley gave it strategic advantages, and it was a successful fishing port and the chief Cinque Port. The seven medieval churches it supported by the late 13th century had declined to two—All Saints and St Clement's—by 1801, but by then the town was about to enter its most rapid period of growth, which saw it expand well beyond the confines of the Bourne valley. Daytrippers, holidaymakers and permanent residents were attracted by better transport links (especially from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) and the prestige of royal patronage (conferred by visits by various members of the British Royal Family), and London builder and speculator James Burton
James Burton (1761–1837)
James Burton was a builder and developer, responsible for large areas of Bloomsbury and the houses around Regent's Park in London. He later founded the new town of St Leonards-on-Sea, which is now part of the built-up area of Hastings...
conceived and laid out a whole new town, St Leonards-on-Sea
St Leonards-on-Sea
St Leonards-on-Sea is part of Hastings, East Sussex, England, lying immediately to the west of the centre. The original part of the settlement was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a...
, immediately west of Hastings in the 1820s to create an upper-class rival to the old resort.
Silverhill was one of the first suburbs to develop during the 19th-century growth period. Originally part of the ancient manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Stone, the land belonging to the farm from which the area takes its name was gradually sold off for development from the 1850s, when its owner faced financial difficulties. Development had first been stimulated by the building of two turnpikes
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
in quick succession—one to Sedlescombe
Sedlescombe
Sedlescombe is a village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England. The village is located north of Hastings.The parish lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The River Brede and its tributary the River Line flow through it; and Powdermill Reservoir is...
in 1837 and another to Battle
Battle, East Sussex
Battle is a small town and civil parish in the local government district of Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south southeast of London, east of Brighton and east of the county town of Lewes...
the following year—which significantly shortened the distance from St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings respectively to London. Housing, inns, a hotel, a brickworks and a windmill were built around the junction of these two routes.
The first Christian presence in Silverhill was the Silver Hill Independent Chapel
St Luke's Church, Silverhill
St Luke's Church is a United Reformed church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings, a town and borough in East Sussex, England. The congregation was originally independent before taking up Presbyterianism, and worshipped in a private house from its founding in 1853 until a permanent church was...
, which started in a rented room in 1853, moved to a proper chapel in 1857 and joined the English Presbyterian Church (as Silverhill Presbyterian Church) in 1862. The nearest Anglican churches, at Hollington
Hollington, East Sussex
Hollington is a suburb and local government ward in the northwest of Hastings, East Sussex. The area lies next to Baldslow, Ashdown, North and Conquest, and less than five miles southeast of Battle, East Sussex, the home of Battle Abbey, which commemorates the victory of William the Conqueror at...
(Church in the Wood
Church in the Wood, Hollington
Church in the Wood, officially known as St Leonard's Church and originally as St Rumbold's Church, is an Anglican church in the Hollington area of the town and borough of Hastings, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex...
) and St Leonards-on-Sea (St Leonard's Church), were distant, and their vicars antagonised local residents by criticising and threatening them for attending the independent chapel's meetings instead. The Anglican community realised the need to establish a church of their own in Silverhill. Rev. John Cumberlege (or Cumberledge), a retired vicar, lived in a large villa with substantial gardens in the centre of Silverhill. He donated some of his land to allow a church to be built, and also paid for its construction. The first St Matthew's Church was founded on that saint's feast day, 21 September 1860; local philanthropist and church benefactor Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave
Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave
Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave was a British philanthropist.Sarah Whitear was born in 1787, the daughter of Rev. William Whitear, a prebendary of Chichester, at Hastings Old Town Rectory. She later married Edward Milward, who later served as Mayor of Hastings several times and she inherited...
(widow of a former Mayor of Hastings) laid the first stone. George Voysey, a local architect, designed the stone, brick and stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
building, which opened for worship on 16 May 1861.
St Matthew's was in the parish of St Leonard's Church at first, but in 1870 an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
separated it from its mother church and gave it a parish of its own. At the same time, Rev. Cumberlege's widow, who held the advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
of the church, donated £3,000 (£ as of ) to offset the costs of construction. Some of this was used to add a tower and porch to the building in 1874. A school had been founded on the south side of the church as well; in 1878 this moved to a larger site on nearby Strood Road.
As Silverhill's growth continued, a larger church building was soon needed. (The population of 73 in 1811 had grown to 183 in 1861; by 1881 there were 1,261 residents.) In 1885, land behind the original church was bought, and the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
Rev. Francis Newton commissioned John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson was a Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency unrivalled in his generation.-Early life and education:Pearson was born in Brussels, Belgium on 5...
—a prominent Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
responsible for Truro Cathedral
Truro Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Truro is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style fashionable during much of the nineteenth century, and is one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom...
, Brisbane Cathedral
St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
St John's Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia...
and several churches in Sussex and other parts of Britain—to design a new St Matthew's Church on the steeply sloping site. Rev. Newton had seen Pearson's recently completed church at Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, St Barnabas
St Barnabas Church, Hove
St Barnabas Church is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was built between 1882 and 1883 to serve residents of the newly developed streets to the south and west of Hove railway station, which had opened in 1865 and had stimulated growth in the previously...
, and approved of it; the two churches share many stylistic similarities. The new church, built by a Mr Shillitoe, cost £11,201 (£ as of ) exclusive of the planned tower and spire. Although the stump of a tower was added in 1896 by a different builder (C.W. Pelling Hurrell) but matching Pearson's design, money soon ran out and no more was built. A tiny wooden flèche
Flèche
A flèche is used in French architecture to refer to a spire and in English to refer to a lead-covered timber spire, or spirelet. These are placed on the ridges of church or cathedral roofs and are usually relatively small...
was added to the roof instead. The stump of the tower was subsequently converted into a porch.
The original church building, fronting the London Road, was converted into the parish hall after the new church opened; it survived until 1959, when a new hall was built on the same site. Meanwhile, the new church was fitted out with a high-quality organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
by the Henry Willis & Sons
Henry Willis & Sons
thumb|250px|St Bees Priory organ, the last major instrument to be personally supervised by "Father" Henry Willis, 1899Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in Liverpool. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other...
firm, bought for £1,064 in 1890 (£ as of ), and a stone reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
by Aston Webb
Aston Webb
Sir Aston Webb, RA, FRIBA was an English architect, active in the late 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century...
, which was acquired in 1900 and dedicated the following year. Some stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
memorial windows were added in 1892, complementing others which had been removed from the 1860 church and reinstalled in the new building.
St Matthew's Church extended its reach further northwards in 1912 by founding a mission chapel on Duke Road (at 50.8705°N 0.5573°W). The first brick was laid on 27 June 1912 and the building opened soon afterwards as St Matthew's Mission Hall. It later closed and was used as an artificial flower
Artificial flower
Artificial flowers are imitations of natural flowering plants, used for commercial or residential decoration. They are sometimes made for scientific purposes .Materials used in their manufacture have included painted linen and shavings of stained horn in Egypt, gold and...
factory, but in 1994 it became a place of worship again when the St Leonards Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church—founded nine years earlier as a house church
House church
House church, or "home church", is used to describe an independent assembly of Christians who gather in a home. Sometimes this occurs because the group is small, and a home is the most appropriate place to gather, as in the beginning phase of the British New Church Movement...
—bought it. The Pentecostalist
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
congregation have renamed the building "His Place Community Church Centre" but still use it as of .
Architecture
St Matthew's Church is a large Early English Gothic revival building with elements of the later Decorated Gothic style. John Loughborough Pearson regarded it as one of his cheaper churches in terms of its design: he reused structural and decorative elements from earlier commissions (in particular St Barnabas Church in Hove, completed in 1883), and restricted himself to using red brick and small quantities of stone. Nevertheless, the design is successful: it has been described as "well-proportioned and well-planned", "serious", and "outstanding ... imposing ... [and] architecturally inventive". The steeply sloping site, which elevates the east end well above the level of the London Road, is considered to enhance the effect of the design.The church has a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with aisles on both sides, a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with a polygonal apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
at the east end, transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s, a side chapel and a balancing organ chamber leading off the chancel, a porch on both sides at the west end (one incorporated into the stump of the tower, the other with an adjoining meeting room), a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
and a small flèche
Flèche
A flèche is used in French architecture to refer to a spire and in English to refer to a lead-covered timber spire, or spirelet. These are placed on the ridges of church or cathedral roofs and are usually relatively small...
of wood with leaded shingles
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
. There is a clerestorey between the aisles and the roof: instead of windows, it has blank quatrefoil-shaped panels. Red brick laid in the English bond pattern
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
is the predominant material on the outside, although there are some stone dressings as well; inside, both red and yellow brick is used to create multicoloured decorative bands. The yellow brick was made at Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne is an industrial town about eight miles east of Gillingham in England, beside the Roman Watling Street off a creek in the Swale, a channel separating the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent...
in Kent.
All windows are lancets
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
. The three in the north transept are very tall and have two quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
s above, while in the south transept two narrower windows with intricate tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
are separated by a thick mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
. There is also a quatrefoil and a sexfoil (six-lobed round window) in this wall. The aisles have three-light lancet windows, and there is a large lancet topped by a quatrefoil in the west wall of the nave. The Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne is the name of an English firm who produced stained glass windows from 1855 onwards.-History:Clement Heaton originally founded his own stained glass firm in 1852, joined by James Butler in 1855. Between 1859-61 they worked alongside Clayton and Bell and were joined by...
glass firm designed the stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
in this window in 1892. Each lancet in the apse is separated by a thin stone shaft inside and out. This feature was copied from St Barnabas Church, Hove
St Barnabas Church, Hove
St Barnabas Church is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was built between 1882 and 1883 to serve residents of the newly developed streets to the south and west of Hove railway station, which had opened in 1865 and had stimulated growth in the previously...
.
Inside, the lack of a chancel arch creates a large single space, enhanced by the nave and aisles having the same roofline. The roof is timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
with king post
King post
A king post is a central vertical supporting post used in architectural, bridge, or aircraft design applications.-Architecture:...
s, tie-beams and double trusses (in the absence of a chancel arch, these form the only demarcation between the nave and chancel). There is also a smaller timber-framed roof in the separate south chapel.
Fittings include Aston Webb's stone reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
—in a triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
form with carved figures and tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
on each panel—an octagonal carved stone font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
dating from 1888, the high-quality Willis organ of 1890 (housed in its own chamber off the chancel), and a stone pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
donated by Rev. Cumberlege's widow and designed by Pearson himself.
The church today
St Matthew's Church was listed at Grade B by English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 14 September 1976, and was later regraded at the equivalent Grade II*. (Grade B was part of a mostly superseded scale used by English Heritage only for Anglican churches.) As a Grade II*-listed building, it is considered "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 13 Grade II* listed buildings, and 535 listed buildings of all grades, in the borough of Hastings.
The parish covers the same territory as it did when it was created in 1870: the boundaries are St Helen's Road (the A2101) in the east; Briers Road, Perth Road and Stonehouse Drive to the north; the postwar Ponswood industrial estate to the west; and the Bohemia suburb to the south (beyond Springfield Road, Tower Road and Newgate Road).