Arthur Wellesley Foster of Yorkshire in 1885, her father bought the couple the Brockhampton Court estate as a wedding present.

[2] Following her father's death in 1895, and that of her mother in 1897, Foster commissioned William Lethaby to build the memorial church, with Randall Wells as clerk of works.

[5] Lethaby chose to be closely involved with the construction of the church, directly engaging craftsmen, contracting with suppliers and taking overall responsibility for all aspects of the design.

He failed to keep Lethaby informed of difficulties which arose during construction, particularly related to his increasing the height of the crossing tower beyond that agreed, and beyond the limit which the foundations could properly support.

[11] The concrete allows for sweeping pointed arches in local stone which rise almost from floor level and run the length of the nave.

Simon Jenkins sees parallels with Edward Schroeder Prior's St Andrew's Church, Roker and also with work by Frank Lloyd Wright;[2] while Alan Brooks, in the 2012 revision to the Herefordshire volume of the Buildings of England, notes similarities to work by Lethaby's teacher, Norman Shaw at Adcote but also to genuine medieval French and Catalan abbeys, such as the monastery at Poblet.