The church is a Grade II* listed building.[1] It was erected (1891–4) in memory of brewer and MP, Pickering Phipps, beside the Kettering Road. The architect was Matthew Holding.
Canon John Rowden Hussey was vicar from its consecration in 1893 to 1937. Walter Hussey, vicar from 1937 to 1955 succeeding his father, was a patron of the arts. He celebrated the church's 50th anniversary with a sequence of events and commissions: the commission of the anthem Rejoice in the Lamb from Benjamin Britten; a performance from the BBC Symphony Orchestra (2 October 1943); an organ recital by George Thalben-Ball, and the commission of Henry Moore's sculpture "Madonna and Child".[2]
In the north transept is Henry Moore's stone sculpture, "Madonna and Child" (1944)[6] and in the south transept a painting of the Crucifixion (1946) by Graham Sutherland. The triptych in the Lady Chapel is by C. E. Buckeridge.[7] A 2009 addition is a bronze statue of St Matthew by Ian Rank-Broadley.[8][9]
St Matthew's follows an Anglican service with Catholic traits. The church celebrates two Eucharistic services on a Sunday including a Parish Mass at 10.15am which is Choral on Feast Days. The Parish Mass is pro populo on the nave altar and the lectern has recently been moved from the chancel step to the high altar to make way for a traditional statue of St Matthew. Choral Evensong is sung twice a month with Benediction following the service on the third Sunday of each. The church maintains a daily Eucharist service and has done since its founding in 1893. The Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are also said publicly every day of the year.
Music
For many years St Matthew's had an all-male choir which was disbanded in the early 2000s.[citation needed] The choir now consists of girl and boy choristers aged 8–18 and adult Altos, Tenors and Basses who sing two services each Sunday. The church choir is supported by The St Matthew's Singers, a choir of local amateur singers, who sing Choral Mass on mid-week Feast Days. The whole music department is overseen by a Director of Music, Parish Organist and Organ Scholar.
The choir has undertaken a tour each year since 2012. These have included week-long trips to sing at St Davids (2012), Portsmouth (2013), Carlisle (2014), Exeter (2015) and Chester (2016), Ely (2017) and Germany (2018). The choir has released two CDs in recent years; in 2013 a disc of music for Advent and Christmas, and in 2014 a recording including recent commissions from David Bednall, David Halls and Philip Stopford.[citation needed]
St Matthew's is also a concert venue for Northampton. The church is home to the Northampton Bach Choir, founded by Denys Pouncey in 1935, which for many years had St Matthew's Director of Music as its Director. The church also has links with the Northampton Music and Performing Arts Trust, the Northampton Philharmonic Choir, the Northampton Chamber Choir and many other groups. St Matthew's also houses a four-manual and pedal organ built by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1895.[11] Regular organ recitals take place.
Webster, Peter (2017). Church and patronage in 20th century Britain: Walter Hussey and the arts. London. pp.54–84. ISBN9781137369093. OCLC1012344270.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Webster, Peter (2017). Church and patronage in 20th century Britain: Walter Hussey and the arts. London. pp.85–97. ISBN9781137369093. OCLC1012344270.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Webster, Peter (2017). Church and patronage in 20th century Britain: Walter Hussey and the arts. London. pp.108–118. ISBN9781137369093. OCLC1012344270.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Webster, Peter (2017). Church and patronage in 20th century Britain: Walter Hussey and the arts. London. pp.100–108. ISBN9781137369093. OCLC1012344270.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Wright, Christopher; May Gordon, Catherine (2006). British and Irish Paintings in Public Collections: An Index of British and Irish Oil Paintings by Artists Born Before 1870 in Public and Institutional Collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Yale University Press. pp.215–216.