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This page is about the church where I am organist - St Matthew's Westminster.
St Matthew's was consecrated in 1851. It is an Anglican church, founded by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster at a time when London's population was increasing very quickly. St Matthew's has always belonged to the catholic tradition of the Church of England. To people who are not Anglicans, this can be a bit confusing. But amongst many things, beauty of worship and ritual are particularly emphasised through this tradition. St Matthew's has many beautiful treasures - the church's web page will show them off, but for now, here are a couple of pictures of the interior and details from the Lady Chapel.
The church suffered a disastrous fire in 1977, which destroyed the organ as well as a significant part of the building. The new organ was built in 1989 - it is a very fine small 2-manual by N. P. Mander Ltd. The organ looks and sounds beautiful, and was carefully designed to fit the building by the consultant (Michael Gillingham) and Manders. It is regularly used by teachers and recitalists, as well, of course, in addition to its main job of leading the worship at St Matthew's. See some of my photos of the organ, and its specification here. You can visit the organ builders - Mander Organs - too. Details of regular lunchtime recitals at St Matthew's can be found here. And here are details of my CD of the St Matthew's organ.
St Matthew's is on Great Peter Street - very near the junction with Great Smith Street, and near to Westminster Abbey and St John's Smith Square. Here is a small map extract. It is open every day - why not come and have a look round sometime!