The present church was consecrated in 1961. St Matthew’s is a modern, light and spacious building, with a Nave and a Sanctuary with a Stone Altar. The building has a side chapel (Chapel of St Chad), a vestry, a Meeting/Community Room, a Modern Kitchen and facilities.
The first church building on this site was a “tin church”, built in 1899 as a daughter church to Holy Trinity, Northwood. Although this church was much loved by the people of the time from the 1920s onwards there were efforts to raise the money for a permanent church.
In 1935 a design was approved and a tender for £8,000 accepted, but the rumours of war and increasing prices meant the project never went forward.
By the late 1950s the cost had increased to £23,000 and tenders for a design by Jennings, Homer and Lynch of Brierley hill were invited. Tom Foster & Son were the builders. The foundation stone was laid by Mr JF Haigh on 5 July 1958 and the church was opened for worship by the Bishop of Stafford on 9 May 1959.
St. Matthew’s was a Parish Communion church with a 9.00am Parish Mass on a Sunday followed by Family Breakfast. The vicar of the time (Fr. Elliott) quoted Sir Ninian Comper’s definition of a Church ‘as a building which contains a Christian Altar. … this [does not] limit its meaning; for the Font, the Confessional, the Lectern, the Pulpit and all else that it contains are but “steps” leading us on to the altar.’
