Past History

St Matthews was one of four new Lambeth parish churches commissioned under the Church Building Act of 1818, in which Parliament granted one million pounds for the building of new churches. The Church Building Commission was set up to build 75 churches with as many seats as possible to ensure that the masses were kept well instructed by the church and attention diverted from revolutionary ideas filtering over from France. The four ‘Waterloo’ churches, as they were known, were all built in neo-Greek style. They were placed in the four corners of Lambeth and named after the gospel writers. St Matthews was erected in Brixton, St Marks in Kennington, St Lukes in West Norwood and St Johns in Waterloo itself. All four churches were built in areas of Lambeth which were experiencing a surge in population in the early 19th century. Half the cost was borne by the Church Building Commission and half by the local parish.

St Matthews was consecrated in 1824. The total cost of building the church was £16,150 with a congregation capacity of 2,000. The church features an imposing facade created by the architect, C.F.Porden. Unlike the other ‘Waterloo’ churches, Porden placed the steeple and clock tower at the opposite end of the church from the main portico. This gave the church more balance and did not spoil the beauty of the portico itself. The church was described by The Gentleman’s Magazine of 1829 as ‘one of the few chaste specimens of classical architecture to be found amongst the various new Churches in the environs of the metropolis’.>>