St Matthew's Church 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, ...

church in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazi ...

. It is a Grade II*

listed building 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, Hi ...

which occupies a prominent position at the junction of Brixton Road,

Brixton Hill Brixton Hill is the name given to a section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main A23 road, London to Brighton road (A23). The road follows the li ...

and Effra Road. The church was constructed following the

Church Building Act 1818 A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the ( 58 Geo. 3. c. 45) and the ( 5 Geo. 4. c. 103). The 1818 ...

and was consecrated in 1824.

Parish

Until 1824,

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

was part of the large ancient parish of

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, whose church stood about away, next to

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

. These arrangements were inconvenient for those living in the new housing that was already starting to appear along the main roads passing through Brixton, a situation that was addressed by the construction of four new churches at Waterloo, Kennington, Norwood and St Matthew's at Brixton. The St Matthew's parish created in 1824 included Brixton, Brixton Hill, Herne Hill, Tulse Hill and (in modern terms) the Loughborough Junction and western Camberwell area. In 1886 the population of the parish amounted to 13,924 and was served by three clergy. The total proportion attending (morning and evening services) was 12.4%. In 1901 the population of the parish was 12,029. In the following year, there were two clergymen and the total proportion attending was 11.2%. In 2002 St Matthew's parish was united with that of St Jude's in East Brixton, whose church building had been sold in 1980 and which had no incumbent since 1991. St Jude's was built in 1867–68. Based on statistics from the UK census, the Diocese of Southwark estimates the population of the parish was 12,100 in 2001 and 15,500 in 2011. It is not clear whether the figure for 2001 includes people who were then living in the former parish of St Jude's.

Building

The church was constructed following the

, which allowed for new churches in overpopulated parishes. Land was taken from Rush Common for the church. Initial works began late in 1821 and the foundation stone was laid by Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury on 1 July 1822. The church was consecrated in 1824. Since 19 October 1951 St Matthew's church has been designated a Grade II*

. It was designed by Charles Ferdinand Porden (1790-1863) with the foundation stone laid in 1822 and the church consecrated two years later. The building is a rectangle, with a massive Greek Doric entrance portico at the west end, fronting onto Brixton Hill. A tower stands at the east end of the building. During the 1970s and subsequently, major internal alterations have been carried out to provide accommodation for a variety of activities, including continued use of a part by the Anglican congregation. The building and its churchyard occupies a highly visible triangular site at the junction of major roads, but pedestrian access is somewhat restricted because of the width of these roads and the density of the traffic.

Architecture

Constructed on a stone

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

, the church is built of yellow brick, enhanced with dressings in stone and Roman cement. The west portico is tetrastyle in antis with Doric columns. Entry is through a set of three large doors, which have original

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

boot scrapers. The sides of the church have five bays with

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

, and entry to the crypt is made down flights of stairs through doors protected by

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

gates. The tower has a square bell stage with Doric screens, below an octagonal "

Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds, known as the in Greek, and by #Names, other names, is an octagonal Pentelic marble tower in the Roman Agora in Athens, named after the eight large reliefs of wind gods around its top. Its date is uncertain, but was compl ...

" topped by a crown and cross and with a clock at its base.

Notable people

Former British Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

married Norma Major in the church in 1970.

Notes

External links

Diocese of Southwark - Statistics for St Matthew with St Jude Brixton'Brixton: Rush Common'
Survey of London: Volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 131–136. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthews Church, Brixton

Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Lambeth Churches completed in 1824 19th-century Church of England church buildings

Brixton