The vicar of Phillipstown, Rev Hannibal James Congdon Gilbert, an accountant, (James Bowlker), and a storeman, (Lewis Aylwin Carrell), together purchased the land for the church in September 1881 for £380.

In March 1883, they onsold the land to the "Church Property Trustees" for a nominal ten shillings.

[2] The church, constructed in 1885, was designed in the Gothic Revival style with red brick with contrasting bands of stone, reflecting the contemporary English architectural style[1] A similarly detailed but larger church, St Johns Cathedral, was also designed by Mountfort and built in Napier between 1886 and 1888.

[2] Mountfort's son, Cyril, oversaw the extension of the church between 1906 and 2007.

[3] On 22 February 2011, another earthquake caused major structural and the church was demolished later that year.