Church of St Matthew

Details

ST54NW WOOKEY CP HIGH STREET (South side)

21/163 Church of St Matthew 22.11.66

GV I

Anglican Parish Church. C12 establishment, late C13 chancel, remainder C14-early C15, except C16 chapel; restored 1872 by Giles and Gane, C20 vestry. Coursed and squared rubble, freestone dressings, coped verges, cruciform finials, slate and lead-sheeting roofs, ashlar stack. Nave, chancel, north and south aisles, south chapel, south porch, north vestry, west tower. Perpendicular. Three-stage tower, diagonal buttresses, pinnacles, embattled parapet, polygonal stair-turret with a stone spirelet; 2-light bell-chamber windows with a quatrefoil interlace, clock; 4-light west window, west door. Three bay nave cum aisles, 2-light windows, buttresses; lofty porch, moulded inner and outer door openings, benched interior on flagstone floor, wooden dog gates, C15 roof. Three bay chapel with large 4-light square-headed window of 1423 and 2 pointed head windows, 3-light west window. Two bay chancel, 3-light east window, stepped cusped lancet lights. Simple vestry in neo-Perpendicular style. Plastered interior on flagstone and encaustic tile floors. Nave with cusped kingpost roof, restored C19 though some earlier work remains, corbels; aisles with restored lean-to roofs, though again earlier work may remain; nave and chapel with C19 wagon roofs. Tower arch and chancel arch have the same double-quadrant moulding; the same moulding also in the 3 bay north arcade; 3-bay south arcade C15; C16 arches to south chapel. Restored C13 font; 2 hagioscopes; rood stair; 3 piscinae. Two C17 chests; table incorporating remains of C17 altar rail; altar rail of 1635; altar table of c1635; C19 pulpit incorporating Jacobean remains. C18 chest and coffin stools. C19 pews, tester, choir stalls, altar rails and reredos. Principal monument a Perpendicular chest to Thomas Clarke, obit 1555, for whom the south chapel may have been built; many good C17/C18 monuments. C19 charity plaque. Much late C19 stained glass and some good C20 work; north chancel window with fragmentary medieval work. Early bells. C17 bible in glazed case. Organ loft under tower with Art Nouveau gesso plaque. Royal Arms dated 1837. (Pevsner, Buildings of England, North Somerset and Bristol, 1958; The Architect, April 27, 1872).

Listing NGR: ST5185245792

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

268176

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol, (1958)
The Architect in 27 April, (1872)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.