Church of St Matthew

Reasons for Designation

The Church of St Matthew is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It is a well designed and striking example of an Arts and Crafts influenced church * It sits well in its restricted setting, forming an integral part of the hamlet it serves * Its simple interior is consistent with its style, as well as reflecting the requirements of the congregation * It uses contemporary influences such as exaggerated buttresses and steeply pitched roof lines, successfully adapting them to the scale imposed by the individual circumstance

Details

BAINBRIDGE

1668/0/10008 STALLING BUSK
07-APR-08 CHURCH OF ST MATTHEW
PARISH CHURCH

II
Church,1909, by Thomas Gerard Davidson, in roughly coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings, and a Westmorland slate roof laid in diminishing courses and with mitred hips.

PLAN: the church has nave, chancel, baptistery/narthex and small north and south transepts.

ELEVATIONS: the chancel (aligned north-east) has a low hipped roof and three square windows with stone quatrefoil tracery. The transepts extend to either side with roofs slightly lower than the chancel, the south transept having a small square window immediately below the eaves. The roof of the nave rises above the chancel and transepts, with a circular window in the gable end with quatrefoil tracery, raised gables and a stone cross at the apex.

The south side has the gable-ended south transept to the right with a small rectangular window at the apex of the gable. The body of the nave has three rectangular windows with leaded lights, divided by triangular buttresses which terminate below the roof level. The roof is steeply pitched and extends to the left to cover the entrance porch, one side of which is formed by triangular buttress and the other by an extension of the west wall. Two steps lead up to the door which is of wooden panels with large decorative hinges set in a plain stone surround.

The north side has the gable end of the north transept to the left, with a central two-light stone mullioned window. Rising from the right side of the transept roof is a tall stone chimney stack. The body of the nave matches the south side with three windows divided by buttresses. At the right end the roof extends to cover the baptistery/narthex which has a two light stone mullioned window matching that in the north transept.

The west end has the gable of the nave rising above the hipped roof of the baptistery/narthex. The gable end is tile-hung and at the apex is a projecting gable beneath which is hung a single bell. The baptistery/narthex roof has a large overhang which also forms the roof of the entrance to the right. Square buttresses to either side flank a central leaded, four-light, stone mullioned window immediately below the eaves.

INTERIOR: the chancel is defined by a rise in floor level and a reduced roof height, and is separated from the nave by a pointed arch in exposed stone. The ceiling construction is a complex arrangement of beams incorporating the transept roofs as well as the hipped chancel roof, in dark wood. The walls are whitewashed and the three square windows running across the whole width of the east wall have plain glass. An altar rail of wood supported on wrought iron brackets and a further step define the sanctuary. To the right, in the south transept, is the vestry which is separated from the chancel by a half-height wall across the eastern side. The north transept contains a small kitchen with wooden wall cupboards, separated from the chancel by a wooden plank door.

The nave ceiling is supported by two scissor trusses supported on plain stone corbels and is in plain dark wood. Above the chancel arch is a circular window. The walls are whitewashed, and the windows have modest motifs in yellow stained glass. Fixed wooden pews run down each side of the central aisle, and to the rear is an archway matching that to the chancel. At the west end of the church is the baptistery which is also the entrance porch or narthex. The door to the left has an exposed stone relieving-arch over. All the windows have plain leaded lights and furniture is limited to a fixed wooden bench along the rear wall. Above the west windows is a curved triangular opening: this is blocked by the later tile-hanging on the upper gable end of the west end. A memorial plaque in stone records members of the Thwaite family from Countersett, and dates to the nineteenth century. Two further memorials on either side of the chancel arch record the heating and lighting of the church donated by members of the Outhwaite family in the 1950s.

HISTORY: the church of St Matthew was commissioned by the Rev Frederick Squibb in 1906, to replace the ruinous and inconvenient seventeenth century church which stood to the north of the settlement. The money, £650, estimated to be required, was raised by 1908, a parishioner donated the plot of land, and the church was consecrated in October 1909 at a final cost of £815. The architect was Thomas Gerard Davidson who had a practice in London and was involved in several church projects elsewhere in the country. The sanctuary was originally designed to have a curved apse, but this was never built. The tiled upper gable at the west end is a later addition, and the heating and lighting systems are later installations, though it is not clear whether the chimney is original.

SOURCES
N Pevsner, The buildings of England - North Riding of Yorkshire (1966), p69

Reasons for Designation Decision:
The Church of St Matthew is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a well designed and striking example of an Arts and Crafts influenced church
* It sits well in its restricted setting, forming an integral part of the hamlet it serves
* Its simple interior is consistent with its style, as well as reflecting the requirements of the congregation
* It uses contemporary influences such as exaggerated buttresses and steeply pitched roof lines, successfully adapting them to the scale imposed by the individual circumstance

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

504442

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The North Riding, (1966), 69

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.