History
St Matthew's Church is a grade-1 listed building situated in a beautiful mature churchyard.
For nearly seven hundred years, St Matthew's Church has been a place of Christian worship and a focal point for the local community, as it remains so today.
Although Morley village appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 there is no mention of a church. It has been suggested that the church was simply overlooked and had in fact been here since late Saxon times.
As Lords of the Manor in the mid to late 1300s, the Stathum family developed the building - we know this as there are helpfully various plaques in the church, placed there by the family, which tell us!
Inside this Grade 1 listed church are many treasures of the Medieval period, in particular the stained glass windows, said to be some of the finest in the country. Rescued and brought here after the Dissolution of nearby Dale Abbey in the 1500s, they are a remarkable survival of this age.
Along with brasses of the Stathum family and descendants, the Sacheverells, there is a wonderful display of Medieval tiles and poignant reminders of the burden of war.
Here you will find stories of loss and joy and hope. A window on time, they are simultaneously, stories of a small Derbyshire village and the stories of a nation.
Those wishing to visit are encouraged to contact the churchwardens to arrange a visit.
Tending the Future 2024-25
Updated March 2025
In light of the heritage significance of the Church, it has recently been awarded a grant from The National Heritage Lottery Fund. This is the Church's first Heritage Fund project - an earlier award having been made to The Mausolea and Monuments Trust to restore the Sacheverell-Bateman Mausoleum in the churchyard.
Four of the Church's medieval windows will be conserved and restored as part of the Tending the Future project. The windows, dated 1482, were those removed from nearby Dale Abbey at the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as rare survivals it is wonderful that they will now be able to receive the attention they deserve.
All four windows have now been removed from the Church for conservation by specialist conservation glazier, Jim Budd Stained Glass. The first two windows will be reinstalled in the Church in May 2025, with the second set of windows returning in September 2025. Some photographs of the conservation process, along with some of the heritage and craft workshops run for the local community can be viewed here.
Further workshops are planned for May 2025, please check our events page for details.
The Tending the Future project will also look at the other historic features of the Church and better interpret them for the many people with an interest in history, heritage, ecclesiastical art and architecture who already visit the Church. New 'heritage interpretation' is being installed at the Church from spring 2025. We very much hope to be able to open the Church more often and allow more people to view the historic interior and enjoy the peace of this sacred space, we are currently looking for volunteer stewards to help us, and we would love to hear from any potential volunteers.
The project has been made possible thanks to generous funding and support from: The National Heritage Lottery Fund, The Worshipful Company of Glaziers, The Leche Trust, The Pilgrim Trust, Diocese of Derby Bishop's Fund, PCC St Matthew's Morley.
Photo credit: Geraldine Curtis
