St Matthew's, Hastings, the oldest portion of which dates to 1886, is a skilful blend of the work of two notable New Zealand architects Cyril Mountfort and Frederick de Jersey Clere. The first Anglican church services in Hastings were held at Frimley, the residence of J. N. Williams, in 1869. By 1874 services had moved to the Provincial School, St Aubyn Street, and were conducted by the Rev. William Marshall, Vicar of Havelock North. In August 1877 the first Anglican Church in Hastings was opened. This church, located in what was then called Main Street (later named Heretaunga Street), was named The Hastings Church but known by locals as 'Westminster Abbey' due to its two prominent towers. However, the church soon proved to be too small and the location unpopular. In 1878 permission was given by the Anglican synod to build a new church and vicarage. Land was donated on King Street for the purpose. The Hastings Church was eventually partially dismantled and used as a schoolroom for several years until destroyed by fire in 1898.

The second (and present church), St Matthew's, was completed in 1886 to the designs of Cyril Julian Mountfort (1852-1920), the second son of Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (1825-1898), Canterbury's first provincial architect and New Zealand's pre-eminent Gothic Revival architect. Cyril assisted in his father's practice during the 1880s and 1890s and eventually took over the practice after 1898. Cyril's design for St Matthew's was a simple wooden Gothic church. Mountfort was later called upon in 1893 to design the lychgate as a memorial to Rev. John Townsend and covered way extending out from the main door in memory of Mary Hobbs, wife of Rev. John Hobbs.

By the first decade of the twentieth century the congregation, since 1895 the parish of Hastings, had again outgrown the church building and in 1904 an Enlargement Fund was started. In 1906 Mountfort submitted a plan and estimates for an addition in the same style. The extension was put on hold as the Vestry decided that it needed to clear all debts before embarking on any building programme. A Building Sub-Committee was formed in 1911. In the following year Frederick de Jersey Clere, since 1883 Diocesan Architect for the Anglican Church, visited St Matthew's and drew up plans for an addition in Ferro-concrete. Clere was a pioneer in reinforced concrete construction in New Zealand and his first ecclesiastical building built of Ferro-concrete was St Mary of the Virgin, Karori (1911). Clere's design for St Matthew's, which was eventually accepted by the parish, is, almost certainly, the first Ferro-concrete Gothic church in New Zealand. The addition included transepts, chapel-chancel, vestries and tower. Clere's design also gave the parish the option to one day replace the Mountfort portion with a Ferro-concrete structure. The tender of £5250 by J. C. Monk was accepted by Clere and the construction was supervised by William Busby, a young architect in working with Clere. Busby was later to die in 1917 on the Western Front and a plaque in his memory was placed on a pew at St Matthew's. The foundation stone of the addition was laid by the Rt. Reverend Dr. Averill, Lord Bishop of Waiapu on 28 January 1914, and was officially opened on 7 February 1915.

On 3 February 1931, a massive earthquake struck the Hawke's Bay region. At 7.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake did huge damage and is considered to be the largest natural disaster to have occurred in New Zealand in the twentieth century. A total of 258 people died. Damage to St Matthew's was substantial, particularly to the tower and part of the roof where the addition joined the original building. Services immediately after the earthquake were held on the vicarage lawn. By April the services had returned to the church and a restoration fund was launched. The repairs, plans for which were prepared by architect H.G. Davies and estimated to cost £1750, were completed by May 1932. The tower was lowered by seven metres and the four central columns and roof arches were rebuilt.

Over the years the external appearance of the church has been altered with the concrete portion sealed with a paint system and the wooden portion stuccoed in order to blend the two portions together. In 1985 there was an extensive refurbishment and reorganisation of the interior, which included the construction of wooden screens in the Lady Chapel. The church has also acquired a number of chattels donated by members of the parish including well-known Hawke's Bay families, the Williams' and the Russells. Perhaps the chattels with the greatest significance are the four stained glass windows in the Lady Chapel by British Arts and Crafts artist, Karl Parsons - four of only seven such windows existing in New Zealand. Elsewhere in the church are fine examples of carvings carried out by Bridgeman and Son of England. Today the church continues to serve the Anglican community of Hastings. Since the opening of the St Matthew's Diocesan Primary school in 1995, the church has been utilised by the school for drama, music, school services and break-up ceremonies.

St Matthew's, one of New Zealand's largest parish churches, is a significant landmark in Hastings. Historically the initial portion of St Matthew's is a rare nineteenth century survivor within Hastings and the building as a whole is one of the few remaining large non-residential buildings to survive the Napier earthquake. Architecturally it is an interesting amalgamation of the work of two of New Zealand's ecclesiastical architects, Cyril Mountfort and Frederick de Jersey Clere. The church has technical significance for the use of ferro-concrete.