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St Matthew's, Great Peter Street, City of Westminster

As part of the complete redevelopment of the area, apart from Victoria Street itself, six other new streets were constructed and a massive rehousing scheme undertaken, with of course, a new church, on the site of the Devil’s Acre. This was St. Matthew’s, Great Peter Street, which presumably, because it was intended to cater for the spiritual needs of the re-housed poor, attracted a grant of £2,000 from the Commissioners and provided over 1,200 seats. Sir George Gilbert Scott and Moffatt had produced a preliminary scheme, but it was not until 8 November 1849 that the foundation stone was laid. Myers was the contractor, the total cost was £7,347, and it was completed by 1851. The base of the tower serves as the entrance porch, one of Scott’s favourite devices, but its upper parts, including a spire, were never built.

Port, M. H., Six Hundred New Churches, A Study of the Church Building Commission, 1818-1856 and its Church Building Activities ( S.P.C.K., London, 1961), p. 157.
Fisher, G., Stamp, G. and Heseltine, J., (eds), The Scott Family, Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Avebury Publishing, Amersham, 1981), 17.
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