St. Matthew’s Church by John Loughborough Pearson

St. Matthew’s church on the North Quay in Douglas was built between 1895 and 1908 to the designs of J L Pearson.

This church is very much in “Anglo- Catholic style” of the nineteenth century as the clergy and parishioners' were very much in accord with the ‘Oxford Movement’ and leading ‘Tractarians’ on the Isle of Man. For Pearson the mainstay of his practise was ecclesiastical work and he established himself as a much-respected Victorian church architect and played a leading role in the re-introduction of vaulted roofs In Victorian church architecture.

Pearson received the Royal Institute of British Architects Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1880. The Gold Medal is award on behalf to the Crown in recognition of Pearson work major contribution to international architecture. The Gold Medal is given for a body of work rather than in recognition of the excellence of a single building.