St Matthew's is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, located in St. Petersburgh Place,

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, near the

New West End Synagogue The New West End Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, in the City of Westminster, London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation has been a member of United Synagogu ...

and Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia. It is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building, executed in the Victorian Gothic revival style.

History

The church was built in 1880, by London-born

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Johnson (1843 – 1919). Some of the stained glass is probably by

Morris & Co Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was a furniture, furnishings and decorative arts manufacturer and retailer founded by the artist and designer William Morris with friends from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Pre-Raphaelites. With ...

. The organ is by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd. The church, in Victorian Gothic Revival style, was funded by

John Derby Allcroft John Derby Allcroft (19 July 1822 – 29 July 1893) was an English philanthropic entrepreneur, evangelical Anglican and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1878 to 1880. Early life Allcroft was born on 19 July 1822, th ...

Stokesay Court Stokesay Court is a country house and estate in the parish of Onibury (but named after Stokesay) in Shropshire, England. Described by John Newman, in the ''Shropshire'' volume of Pevsner's Buildings of England, as "the most grandiloquent Vic ...

in Shropshire, one of several London churches he financed. It was completed in 1882, replacing the earlier Bayswater Chapel constructed in 1818. A large congregation flocked to hear the incumbent, Archdeacon James Hunter, who had recently returned from missionary work with the

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

of Canada.

Present day

The parish continues to use the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

'' (BCP) at most of its services, rather than the modern ''

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical M ...

''.

Notable people

* Rennie MacInnes, Bishop of Jerusalem, was a curate from 1896 to 1899. * Sidney Nowell Rostron, formerly Principal of St John's College, Durham, was vicar from 1922 to 1933. * Hugh Gough, subsequently Archbishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia, was vicar from 1939 to 1946. *

Edward John Bolus Edward John Bolus (born 5 May 1879) was a poet and writer, civil servant, and clergyman. He spent his civil service career in India, which appears prominently in his writing. Life Early years Born 5 May 1879 to Harriet S. Bolus and her husband ...

was a deacon in 1926. * Composer Felix Swinstead was organist during World War 2 and wrote a ''Te Deum'' for the church choir in 1941.Barbara Wilkins. ''Felix Swinstead at Home'' (2003)
/ref>

Gallery

File:St. Matthew’s Church Bayswater, tower & spire sunlit.jpg, East face: spire and its tower, viewed aslant in Autumn sunlight St Matthew's, Bayswater 09.JPG, In Summer, shaded by foliage of street trees

References

External links

Grade II* listed churches in the City of Westminster 19th-century Church of England church buildings Diocese of London Bayswater {{UK-listed-building-stub