The church originated in an Anglo-Catholic congregation that started worshipping in Cottenham Park school in 1880. The growing congregation had something of a nomadic existence, moving first to a small rented hall, then a kit-built "iron church", before the need for a permanent home was recognised in the construction of a substantial brick basilica-style church to designs by Ernest Shearman (1859-1939).
Construction began in 1909 and the church was completed in 1927. Photographs show a rather eccentric neo-Gothic design, with two spindly bell turrets, a large rose window resembling a Celtic Cross and, inside, a large apse with ambulatory. It was not to last: in June 1944, the main body of the church was almost completely destroyed by a flying bomb, leaving only the north wall and apse standing. The congregation once again endured a nomadic existence, worshipping successively in nearby Christ Church, once more in Cottenham Park school, and finally in Raynes Park Methodist Church.
Work on a replacement church began in 1957 to designs by Sebastian Comper (son of Sir Ninian Comper). Dedicated in 1958, Comper's spare neo-Gothic includes an extraordinarily wide, aisled nave, lit by generous clerestory windows, a polygonal apse, and a large rose window in the west wall. The immediate impression on entering is one of spaciousness beneath a series of huge, red-painted roof trusses.
The church is now part of the Wimbledon team ministry, and the centre of a busy parish life, with close links to the local primary school. The worship is faithful to its Anglo-Catholic roots: the website proudly proclaims it to be "traditional - in a modern kind of way; liberal - in an orthodox kind of way".
St Matthews, Durham Road, West Wimbledon SW20 0DE
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