Description

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

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26452944

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings