St Matthew's Church, Silverhill facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Matthew's Church
The church from the northwest, showing the tower stump (right)
50°51′56″N 0°33′20″E / 50.8656°N 0.5556°E / 50.8656; 0.5556
Location	St Matthew's Road, Silverhill, Hastings, East Sussex TN37 6PD
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Conservative Evangelical
Website	www.stmatts.co.uk
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	21 September 1860
Founder(s)	Rev. John Cumberlege; Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave
Dedication	Matthew
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	14 September 1976
Architect(s)	George Voysey (first church); John Loughborough Pearson (present building)
Style	Early English Gothic
Completed	1861 (first church); 1884 (present building)
Administration
Parish	St Matthew, Silverhill
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Hastings
Archdeaconry	Archdeaconry of Hastings
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury

St Matthew's Church is an Anglican church located in the Silverhill area of Hastings, a town in East Sussex, England. The building you see today is a large brick church built in 1884. It was designed by a famous church architect named John Loughborough Pearson.

This church replaced a much smaller one that was built in 1860. At that time, Silverhill was changing from a farming area into a growing part of Hastings. Even though a tall tower was planned but never finished, the church still looks very grand and stands out on its sloped site. It's considered an "outstanding" and "inventive" building. Because of its important history and design, English Heritage has given it a special status called Grade II*.

The Story of St Matthew's Church

How Hastings Grew

Hastings has been an important town for a very long time, first mentioned in writing in 928. It was a successful fishing port and a key member of the Cinque Ports. By the 1800s, Hastings started to grow very quickly. More people came to visit or live there, especially after better roads and train links were built.

A new town called St Leonards-on-Sea was even built next to Hastings in the 1820s. This growth led to new areas like Silverhill developing.

Silverhill's Early Days

Silverhill was one of the first new areas to grow in the 1800s. Land that used to be part of a farm was sold off for building homes and businesses. This growth was helped by new "turnpike" roads (special roads where you paid a fee to use them) built in 1837 and 1838. These roads made it much easier to travel to London. Soon, Silverhill had houses, inns, a hotel, and even a brick factory.

Building the First Church

Before St Matthew's, there was a different church in Silverhill called the Silver Hill Independent Chapel, started in 1853. The closest Anglican churches were quite far away. People in Silverhill felt they needed their own Anglican church.

A retired vicar named Rev. John Cumberlege lived in Silverhill. He generously gave some of his land and paid for a new church to be built. The first St Matthew's Church was started on September 21, 1860. A kind lady named Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave, who helped many churches, laid the first stone. George Voysey, a local architect, designed this first church, which opened in May 1861.

A New, Bigger Church

At first, St Matthew's was part of another church's area. But in 1870, it became its own parish (church area). Rev. Cumberlege's widow also gave a large sum of money to help with costs. Some of this money was used to add a tower and porch to the church in 1874.

St Barnabas Church in Hove looks very similar to St Matthew's.

As Silverhill continued to grow, the church needed to be even bigger. The number of people living in Silverhill had increased a lot. In 1885, land behind the first church was bought. The church leader, Rev. Francis Newton, asked John Loughborough Pearson to design a new, larger St Matthew's Church. Pearson was a very famous architect who designed many churches, including Truro Cathedral.

Rev. Newton liked Pearson's church in Hove, called St Barnabas, which was built a few years earlier. The new St Matthew's Church was built by Mr. Shillitoe and cost a lot of money. A small part of a tower was added in 1896, but there wasn't enough money to finish it. Instead, a small wooden spire was put on the roof. The old church building was then used as a church hall until 1959.

Inside the new church, a high-quality organ was installed in 1890. A beautiful stone screen behind the altar, called a reredos, was added in 1900. Some stained glass windows were also moved from the old church to the new one.

The Mission Hall

In 1912, St Matthew's Church opened a smaller "mission chapel" on Duke Road to reach more people. This building later became a factory. In 1994, it became a church again, used by a Pentecostal group called His Place Community Church Centre. They moved out in 2013, and now it's used by Calvary Chapel Hastings, another Christian group.

What the Church Looks Like

Design and Materials

The east end of St Matthew's Church has a rounded shape with tall, narrow windows.

St Matthew's Church is built in a style called Early English Gothic Revival. This means it looks like churches from the early Gothic period in England. John Loughborough Pearson, the architect, used red brick and a small amount of stone for the outside.

Even though he reused some ideas from his other churches, the design is very good. People have called it "well-proportioned" and "outstanding." The church is built on a steep slope, which makes it look even more impressive.

Inside and Out

The church has a main area called the nave with aisles on both sides. At the east end, there's a chancel with a rounded section called an apse. It also has side sections called transepts, a small chapel, and a room for the organ. There are porches at the west end, and a small wooden spire on the roof.

The outside is mostly red brick. Inside, both red and yellow bricks are used to create colorful patterns. The yellow bricks came from a place called Sittingbourne in Kent.

Windows and Features

All the windows in the church are tall and narrow, known as lancet windows. Some have interesting patterns above them, like quatrefoils (four-leaf shapes) or sexfoils (six-leaf shapes). The large stained glass window at the west end was designed in 1892.

Inside, the church feels like one big space because there isn't a large arch separating the nave from the chancel. The roof is made of wood, with strong beams that help support it.

The church has several important features:

• The stone reredos behind the altar, designed by Aston Webb, has carved figures.
• The font, used for baptisms, is made of carved stone and dates from 1888.
• The high-quality Willis organ was installed in 1890.
• The stone pulpit, where sermons are given, was designed by Pearson himself and given by Rev. Cumberlege's widow.

St Matthew's Church Today

St Matthew's Church was given a special Grade II* listing by English Heritage in 1976. This means it's considered a very important building, with more than just special interest. In 2001, it was one of only 13 Grade II* listed buildings in Hastings.

The church's parish (the area it serves) is still the same as when it was created in 1870. It covers parts of Silverhill and nearby areas.

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Hastings
• List of places of worship in Hastings
• List of new ecclesiastical buildings by J. L. Pearson