CHURCH OF ST MATTHEW

Overview

Location

Details

SK 21 NE PARISH OF OVERSEAL WOODVILLE ROAD 3/43 (North Side) Church of St Matthew GV II Parish church. 1841 by Thomas Johnson of Lichfield in Early English style, chancel added 1908. Tooled ashlar with stone dressings and moulded plinth. Slate roof with stone coped gables on moulded kneelers, topped by ridge crosses, plus coved band one course below eaves level. Western tower, nave and lower chancel with north and south vestries. Three stage tower has angle buttresses to half way up second stage on western corners, a polygonal staircase turret to north-east corner with four-centred arched door and lapped stone roof, and a moulded pointed west door with double studded wooden doors. Above there is a cavetto moulded lancet and above again there is a diamond shaped clockface. North and south sides have small slit windows to second stage. Bell stage is considerably narrower with chamfered band to base and chamfered corners. Each side has a Y-tracery pointed louvred bell opening, and above it has a pyramidal plain tile roof with wide belled eaves. North nave elevation has five moulded lancets with almost full height buttresses between and similar angle buttresses to either end. Attached to east end of aisle is a low vestry with cavetto moulded pointed northern door and a moulded lancet to east. Above this in the north chancel wall is a trefoil shaped window and beyond to east there is a stepped triple lancet window. 5-light geometric tracery east window has two major mullions to centre and flanking buttresses to either side. South chancel elevation has two cavetto moulded lancets and south vestry beyond has similar window to east, a cavetto moulded doorcase to west and a trefoil shaped window to east set in four-centred arched recess. South nave elevation similar to northern elevation. All openings have hoomoulds, those to south chancel lancets with foliage stops. Interior has a wide, almost semi- circular triple chamfered chancel arch with soffit on moulded corbels, and a pointed chamfered western door with hoodmould plus foliage stops into the tower. Similar door into south vestry and similar hoods and stops to all nave lancets and north-east window of chancel. Nave has an arched braced queen post roof on moulded corbels and chancel has strutted arched braced trusses. Chancel has early C20 panelled oak reredos and metal altar rails, oak choir stalls with poppy head bench ends dated 1913 and a wooden chancel screen with frieze of small trefoils below trefoil headed arcade dated 1909. The nave has its original box pews, with poppy head finials and blind pointed arches to bench ends, on either side and later bench pews, also with poppy finials, to centre. Octagonal stone pulpit to south side of nave has moulded base, cusped headed panels to each side and is reached from the south vestry via a doorcase with castellated cornice. The font, which is also octagonal, has carved sides and stem. North side of nave to west end has screened-off vestry of c1950. There are few monuments, two brass wall memorials, one in chancel to Rev Dibben who died 1918 and one in nave to Mary and Emily Singleton of c1896, plus two to west end of nave, one gothick aediculed wall monument to Elizabeth Pyecroft who donated land for the church and the other recording the peal of bells given to commemorate First World War victims. East window, south chancel windows and all but westernmost window to north side of nave all have faintly coloured glass. Three central southern nave windows and eastern window on north side of chancel, the original east window, all have brightly coloured Chartres style stained glass of 1841, whilst the trefoil shaped chancel window has late C19 figurative glass and the westernmost north nave window has memorial stained glass to William Wright of c1954. South vestry has two figurative stained glass windows, one of 1858, the other of c1866.

Listing NGR: SK2948615467

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

82975

Legacy System:

LBS

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.