The first church on the site was a chapel of ease built in 1821 by John Oates. It was the only church in Wales to receive aid from the First Parliamentary Grant of the Church Building Commission. St Matthew's became a parish church in 1874 and it was substantially rebuilt during the period 1897-1905 by Douglas & Minshull. Vestries were added first, then the chancel in 1900-1 and in 1902 the tower was remodelled and a baptistry formed. The SW porch was constructed in 1902, the nave was reconstructed in 1904-5 and the nave furnishings replaced, probably late C20.

The exterior of the church show a Neo-Perpendicular style with Arts & Crafts elements. Ashlar with Westmorland slate roof with red ridge-tiles, and distinctive timber framing. W tower, aisles, SW porch in the angle of the tower and S aisle, Polygonal apse. The tower is battlemented with stepped angle buttresses, paired louvred bell-openings with flat traceried heads, paired stair windows and an octagonal stair tower rising part-way at the SW corner. The SW porch has a stepped parapet and an arched entrance with a niche with a statue of St Matthew above and piers which terminate with crocketted finials on either side. Low aisles with 3-light traceried windows, clerestory with herringbone timber-framed panels alternating with flat-headed 4-light windows. E end has five-light traceried window, and a gabled vestry is attached to the NE side.

The interior of the church comprises a five-bay nave arcade of steel girders encased in timber and a false hammerbeam timber roof. The walls are of exposed ashlar except for the infill of the timber-framed triforium where there is painted decoration of 1910 restored in 1963. This is in the form of a row of panels in which stencilled motifs flank painted figures bearing shields. Canted beams above the arcades are painted with the Beatitudes. The W end baptistry also has an elaborate stencilled and painted scheme designed by Douglas and executed by W F Lodge on 1903. This consists of stencilled IHS motifs with crowns, a frieze at the level of the top of the window, and above this roundels with painted figures representing the Virtues. The window which is by Henry Holiday was given by Mrs Alice Wickham, daughter of W E Gladstone. There is a panelled octagonal red sandstone font on a plinth with an ornate oak cover by Herbert Read of Exeter.

The chuch is Listed as grade II* as an outstanding example of the work of John Douglas which is the latest and amongst the most significant examples of his use of timber-framing in church design. There is a Lych Gate outside which is also listed.

Source:
CADW Listed Building Database.