St Matthew
The creation of this outstanding late Victorian Gothic church was made possible by its patron the local brewer Pickering Phipps, the local architect Matthew Henry Holding and its first incumbent the Revd JR Hussey.
About this church
It went up remarkably quickly between 1893-5 and with its fine tower topped by a steeple remains a significant land mark in this part of the town.
Internally the church was well furnished with an alabaster font and pulpit by Aumonier, a reredos by Nathaniel Hitch, an iron work screen by GR de Wilde, and stained glass by Clayton & Bell. Into this soaring space, comparatively new, space were introduced two mid 20th century masterpieces by the vicar’s son and successor the Revd Walter Hussey.
The earliest in 1944, is Henry Moore's monumental Madonna and Child in the north transept. This faces, in the south transept, Graham Sutherland's gritty Crucifixion of 1946. Patronage here has not died out. The statue of St Matthew by Ian Rank-Broadley was placed in the crossing in 2009.
