St Matthew's Church, Little Lever

St Matthew's Church, Little Lever
St Matthew's Church, Little Lever
	St Matthew's Church, Little Lever, from the southwest
	St Matthew's Church, Little Lever Location in Greater Manchester
	53°33′46″N 2°22′25″W / 53.5628°N 2.3735°W
OS grid reference	SD 754,074
Location	Little Lever, Bolton,; Greater Manchester
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Churchmanship	Anglo-Catholic
Website	St Matthew, Little Lever
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Saint Matthew
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	9 May 2003
Architect(s)	E. G. Paley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1865
Specifications
Materials	Coursed rubble stone with ashlar dressings; Slate roofs
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Manchester
Archdeaconry	Bolton
Deanery	Bolton
Parish	St. Matthew, Little Lever
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Fr Robert Eloff
Assistant priest(s)	Fr. Ian Anthony
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Kathy Winterbotham , Lynn Donnelly

St Matthew's Church is in the village of Little Lever, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Bolton, the archdeaconry of Bolton, and the diocese of Manchester.^[1] St Matthew's is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[2]

History

St Matthew's was built in 1865 to replace an earlier church built in 1791 on the other side of the street. It was designed by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley. The tower was increased in height in 1924 as a memorial to the First World War.^[3]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in coursed rubble stone with ashlar dressings, and a has slate roofs. Its architectural style is early Decorated. The plan consists of a nave, north and south transepts, a west porch, a chancel, a north vestry, and a tower at the southeast corner. The tower is in four stages, with a stair turret in its southeast corner. The bell openings have two lights and louvres. In the stair turret there are small lancet windows. At the summit of the tower is a plain parapet and corner pinnacles. Along the walls of the nave are two-light windows separated by buttresses. At the west end are large buttresses, a gabled porch, and a rose window. On the south wall of the chancel is a small three-light window, and on the north side, over the vestry, are two lancet windows. At the east end is a three-light window containing plate tracery. On the gable ends are finials.^[2]

Interior

In the chancel is a stone reredos, with stone panels containing the Ten Commandments and the Creed on each side, and a double sedilia. The choir stalls, organ front and screen are elaborately carved. The chancel is floored with Minton tiles. At the west end is a gallery, under which is a glazed screen.^[2] The pulpit and font are both "heavy stone tubs".^[3] The three-manual organ was built in 1884 by Brindley and Foster, and enlarged by the same firm in 1911.^[4]

Churchyard

The churchyard contains the war graves of five soldiers of the First World War, and two soldiers and two Royal Navy sailors of the Second World War.^[5]

References

^ St. Matthew, Little Lever, Church of England, retrieved 6 June 2011
^ ^a ^b ^c Historic England, "Church of St Matthew, Bolton (1391096)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 9 July 2012
^ ^a ^b Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2004), Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 248, ISBN 0-300-10583-5
^ "NPOR [N00810]", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 1 July 2020
^ Little Lever (St. Matthew) Churchyard, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 4 February 2013

[1] St. Matthew, Little Lever, Church of England, retrieved 6 June 2011

[nhl-2] Historic England, "Church of St Matthew, Bolton (1391096)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 9 July 2012

[pev-3] Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2004), Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 248, ISBN 0-300-10583-5

[4] "NPOR [N00810]", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 1 July 2020

[5] Little Lever (St. Matthew) Churchyard, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 4 February 2013

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v t e Churches in the Deanery of Bolton
Benefice of Astley Bridge	St Paul, Astley Bridge
Benefice of Blackrod	St Bartholomew, Westhoughton St George, Westhoughton St Katharine, Blackrod St James, Daisy Hill St John, Wingates St Thomas, Westhoughton
Benefice of Bolton le Moors	St Peter, Bolton St Philip, Bolton
Benefice of Bolton St Bede	St Bede, Bolton
Benefice of Deane	St Andrew, Over Hulton St Mary, Deane
Benefice of Farnworth	Holy Trinity, Prestolee St John, Farnworth St Saviour, Ringley St Stephen, Kearsley
Benefice of Halliwell St Peter	Barrow Bridge St Andrew, Bolton St Peter, Halliwell Smithills Hall
Benefice of Harwood	Christ Church, Harwood
Benefice of Heaton with Halliwell	Christ Church, Heaton St Margaret, Halliwell
Benefice of Horwich and Rivington	Holy Trinity, Horwich Rivington St Catherine, Horwich St Elizabeth, Horwich
Benefice of Leverhulme	St Chad, Tonge Fold St James, Breightmet St Stephen and All Martyrs, Lever Bridge
Benefice of Little Lever	St Matthew, Little Lever
Benefice of Lostock	St Thomas and St John, Lostock
Benefice of Seven Sisters	St Catherine, New Bury St George with St James, New Bury St Michael with St Bartholomew, Great Lever St Simon and St Jude, Bolton
Benefice of Tonge Moor	St Aidan, Hall i'th' Wood St Augustine, Tonge Moor
Benefice of Turton Moorland	St Andrew, Bromley Cross St Anne, Turton St James, Edgworth St Maxentius, Bradshaw St Peter, Belmont Walmsley
Benefice of West Bolton	Emmanuel, Bolton St George, Daubhill St Luke, Halliwell St Paul, Bolton St Thomas, Halliwell

v t e Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, England
Buildings	Astley Bridge Mill Bolton Town Hall Bolton Museum Bolton Steam Museum Bolton Union Mill Century Mill Eagley Mills Farnworth Town Hall 10 Firwood Fold 15 Firwood Fold Hall i' th' Wood Horwich Works Little Bolton Town Hall Kearsley Mill Lostock Hall Gatehouse Smithills Hall Swan Lane Mills Ye Olde Man & Scythe
Places of worship	All Souls Holy Trinity Church, Bolton Holy Trinity Church, Horwich St George's St James' St John the Evangelist's St Mary the Virgin's St Margaret's St Matthew's St Maxentius' St Patrick's St Peter's St Saviour's St Stephen and All Martyrs' St Thomas' Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Education	Bolton College Bolton Muslim Girls' School Bolton St Catherine's Academy Bolton School Bolton Sixth Form College Bolton TIC Canon Slade School Darul Uloom Bolton Essa Academy Harper Green School Kearsley Academy Ladybridge High School Little Lever School Mount St Joseph School Rivington and Blackrod High School St James's Church of England High School St Joseph's RC High School Sharples School Smithills School Thornleigh Salesian College Turton School University Collegiate School University of Bolton Westhoughton High School
Transportation	Bolton bus station Bolton Interchange Blackrod railway station Daisy Hill railway station Farnworth railway station Horwich Parkway railway station Kearsley railway station Lostock railway station Moses Gate railway station Westhoughton railway station
Shopping complexes	Bolton Market Hall Middlebrook
Sport and entertainment	Bolton Arena Bolton Little Theatre Octagon Theatre Toughsheet Community Stadium
Bridges	Prestolee Aqueduct Ringley Old Bridge
Others	Barrow Bridge Queen's Park Royal Bolton Hospital
Demolished	Bolton Royal Infirmary Burnden Park Chequerbent railway station Chequerbent railway station (1831) Daubhill railway station Grundy Hill Horwich railway station Lostock Junction Mills Westhoughton Mill
Lists	List of schools in Bolton List of mills in Bolton
Listed buildings in	Blackrod Bolton Farnworth Horwich Kearsley Little Lever South Turton Westhoughton