Plymouth, St Matthew's Church, Elburton, Plymstock

PLYMOUTH
DATA

The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History

St MATTHEW'S CHURCH, ELBURTON

St Matthew's Church is located in Sherford Road, Elburton, Plymstock, Plymouth.

A Sunday School was formed first and this was held in an old barn. Between 1915 and 1923 Church services were held in a currogated hut (there were many of these so called 'iron church' buildings in Plymouth).

St Matthew's Church, Elburton, Plymstock, Plymouth

The hut was on land owned by the Reverend T E Robinson, a missionary in China. When he sailed from England in 1920 he left the land in trust for the erection of a mission church.

Mr J H Tonkin, secretary and treasurer of the trustees, laid the foundation stone of the permanent Elburton Mission Church on Saturday September 23rd 1922. It would seat about 220 when completed. At that time about £240 had already been raised towards the expected cost of £800. During the ceremony Miss Lidstone, on behalf of the Ladies' Sewing Guild, presented Mr Tonkin with an inscribed silver and ivory trowel supplied by Messrs Page, Keen and Page, of Plymouth, with which to lay the stone. Afterwards the Sunday School children placed envelopes containing their contributions on top of the stone.

It was opened 1923 and was dedicated to St Matthew. It was made in to a Conventional District in 1931.