St Matthew's Church, Stretton
| St Matthew's Church, Stretton | |
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Tower of St Matthew's Church, Stretton
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 St Matthew's Church, Stretton
Location in Cheshire
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| Coordinates: 53°20′25″N 2°34′18″W / 53.3404°N 2.5717°W | |
| OS grid reference | SJ 620 827 |
| Location | Stretton, Cheshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | St Matthew, Stretton |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Matthew |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 8 January 1970 |
| Architect(s) | Sir George Gilbert Scott |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Completed | 1870 |
| Specifications | |
| Spire height | 75 feet (23 m) |
| Materials | Red sandstone, Westmorland slate roofs |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Stretton |
| Deanery | Great Budworth |
| Archdeaconry | Chester |
| Diocese | Chester |
| Province | York |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | Rev Alan David John JEWELL |
St Matthew's Church is in the village of Stretton, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth. Its benefice is combined with that of St Cross, Appleton Thorn.
From the reign of Henry II, the village of Stretton was owned by the Starkey family and it is likely that a chapel was built for the family during the 13th or 14th century. In a will dated 1527 the chapel is referred to as the Oratory of St Saviour. In Leycester's history of Cheshire it is stated that in 1666 the "ancient chapel of Stretton" was "ruinous and in decay". In 1826–27 a Commissioners' Church was built as a chapel of ease to Great Budworth. It was designed by Philip Hardwick and accommodated 250 people. In 1859 Richard Greenall, vicar and Archdeacon of Chester, commissioned George Gilbert Scott to build a chancel, which he did. Richard Greenall died suddenly in 1867, and following this the rest of the church was rebuilt as a memorial to him, Scott again being the architect.
The church is built in red sandstone with Westmorland slate roofs. The plan consists of a five-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a two-bay chancel, a north vestry and a west tower. The tower is in three stages with angle buttresses, an octagonal northeast turret, paired bell-openings and a corbelled plain parapet.
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