The present building, a large brick structure of 1884 by ecclesiastical architect John Loughborough Pearson, replaced a much smaller church founded in 1860 when Silverhill began to grow from an agricultural area with scattered cottages into a suburb of the increasingly fashionable seaside resort of Hastings.

Although a planned tower was never built, the "imposing" church dominates its steeply sloping site; and although its architect—a leading Gothic Revivalist—considered it one of his lesser works, it has been described as "outstanding" and "architecturally inventive".

[1] The seven medieval churches it supported by the late 13th century had declined to two—All Saints and St Clement's—by 1801,[2] but by then the town was about to enter its most rapid period of growth, which saw it expand well beyond the confines of the Bourne valley.

Daytrippers, holidaymakers and permanent residents were attracted by better transport links (especially from London) and the prestige of royal patronage (conferred by visits by various members of the British royal family), and London builder and speculator James Burton conceived and laid out a whole new town, St Leonards-on-Sea, immediately west of Hastings in the 1820s to create an upper-class rival to the old resort.

Originally part of the ancient manor of Stone,[3] the land belonging to the farm from which the area takes its name was gradually sold off for development from the 1850s, when its owner faced financial difficulties.

[4] Development had first been stimulated by the building of two turnpikes in quick succession—one to Sedlescombe in 1837 and another to Battle the following year—which significantly shortened the distance from St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings respectively to London.

John Cumberlege (or Cumberledge), a retired vicar, lived in a large villa with substantial gardens in the centre of Silverhill.

[9] George Voysey, a local architect, designed the stone, brick and stucco building, which opened for worship on 16 May 1861.

[11][16] A school had been founded on the south side of the church as well;[10] in 1878 this moved to a larger site on nearby Strood Road.

[20] Meanwhile, the new church was fitted out with a high-quality organ by the Henry Willis & Sons firm, bought for £1,064 in 1890 (£147,900 in 2025),[14][21] and a stone reredos by Aston Webb, which was acquired in 1900 and dedicated the following year.

[19] St Matthew's Church extended its reach further northwards in 1912 by founding a mission chapel on Duke Road (at 50°52′14″N 0°33′26″E / 50.8705°N 0.5573°E / 50.8705; 0.5573).

[22] It later closed and was used as an artificial flower factory, but in 1994 it became a place of worship again when the St Leonards Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church—founded nine years earlier as a house church—bought it.

[19] The steeply sloping site, which elevates the east end well above the level of the London Road, is considered to enhance the effect of the design.

[13] Inside, the lack of a chancel arch creates a large single space, enhanced by the nave and aisles having the same roofline.