St Matthew's Church, Westminster, is an Anglican church in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Located in the heart of the capital, close to the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

and Church House, St Matthew's has been closely associated with the recovery of the Catholic heritage of the Church of England from its early days. One of the foremost leaders of that movement, Frank Weston, Bishop of Zanzibar, served at St Matthew's from 1916–1918.

History

St Matthew's was built between 1849 and 1851 to the design of Sir George Gilbert Scott, assisted by his brother-in-law,

George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...

. Scott's son

John Oldrid Scott John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect. Biography He was the son of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott) and his wife Caroline (née Oldrid). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles G ...

designed the clergy house. Subsequently, Sir

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the de ...

added the

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...

(approached by the staircase in the

Narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

). The interior was greatly enriched by the work of Bodley,

Charles Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lich ...

Walter Ernest Tower Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

and

Martin Travers Howard Martin Otho Travers (19 February 1886 – 25 July 1948) was an English church artist and designer. Travers was born in Margate, Kent, educated at Tonbridge School, entered the Royal College of Art in 1904, and was awarded its Diploma in A ...

. Kempe and Comper studied under Bodley; Tower was Kempe's partner and Martin Travers was the pupil of Comper. At the time it was built the area was one of the poorer districts of the borough of

. The church was founded to alleviate the overcrowded

St John the Evangelist Church St. John the Evangelist Church refers to churches honoring John the Apostle, also known as John the Divine or John of Patmos, as their patron saint but distinguished from John the Baptist. Thus, the designation may refer to: Australia * St John ...

(better known as St John's, Smith Square, which has since been converted into a concert hall, although it remains a consecrated church) in nearby

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a Baroque surplus church, which has inside converted to a concert hall ...

. At that time, the new parish was situated in the middle of the notorious Devil's Acre slum and the site was purchased piecemeal at a total cost of about £6,000. This resulted in the "very irregular and unfavourable form" of the "L"-shaped church building. The church, except for the Lady Chapel, was almost totally destroyed by fire in May 1977. The new church was dedicated in November 1984 and, while much smaller than the previous church, retains much of its atmosphere as well as some of the original stone-work and many of the contents rescued from the destruction. It is twinned with the

Little Church Around the Corner The Church of the Transfiguration, also known as the Little Church Around the Corner, is an Episcopal parish church located at 1 East 29th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The con ...

in New York, where P.G. Wodehouse was married and set many weddings in his writing.

Architecture and interior

Entering the church, via the narthex, visitors will see a stained glass window of St Michael by W. E. Tower. All the stained glass was badly damaged but some of the figures were saved and placed in new settings (most notably the east window and the Annunciation scene in the N.E. window). Here also is Tower's panel of the crucifixion. The 14 Stations of the Cross line the walls and were sculpted by Joseph Cribb, a pupil of

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

. They trace the final journey which Jesus made on the way to his crucifixion and are used as an aid to prayer and meditation. The Lady Chapel is the earliest example of Comper's work in England, and the 'English altar' with its riddel posts is, he maintained, the first of its type since the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The Chapel has been completely renovated, and is used every day for Morning and Evening Prayer as well as for weekday masses. There is a fine statue of

Our Lady of Walsingham Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus venerated by Catholics, Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English noblewoman, in 1061 in t ...

. Next to the Lady Chapel is the Reconciliation Room, which is used for the hearing of confessions and private discussions. St Michael's Chapel houses a stone altar by Bodley, and is open every day for private prayer and reflection. Through the iron-work grille, also by Bodley, can be seen the magnificent reredos by W. E. Tower, depicting an amazing variety of saints and angels surrounding the scene of the Nativity. On the High Altar is the tabernacle where the

Blessed Sacrament The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...

is reserved so that Holy Communion is available at any time for those in need. It also acts as a focus for prayer. The altar contains a relic of St Matthew. Entering the main church one passes a fine Spanish lectern from the 15th century. The modern statue of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, is by Mother Concordia OSB. The other statues are the work of Tower and depict St Edward the Confessor, St George (with dragon), St Michael and St Matthew. The High Altar and reredos were originally under the east window, surrounded by wooden panelling. This panelling was removed after the fire and beneath it was discovered the mosaic mural and painted arcading you see today. The recent addition of a modern carving of the Madonna and Child maintains the creative link between the church and the arts. It was sculpted by Guy Reid, a former Artist in Residence at St Matthew's.

Parish school

The parish school was opened in 1854 and is next to the church in Old Pye Street. The vicar serves as the chair of governors and the church's pastoral assistants take an active role in the spiritual life of the school.

Notable clergy

* Eric Lionel Mascall, curate *Ernest Perkins St John, vicar 1935–?Mascall, E. L. (1992) ''Saraband: the memoirs of E. L. Mascall''. Leominster: Gracewing; chapter 5 * Frank Weston, curate * Gerard Irvine, vicar *

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...

, curate

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthew's, Westminster