[2] The building was formerly a tithe barn built and owned by the Augustinian Canons at Merton Priory, Surrey.

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, the barn was handed over to the King along with all of the Priory's property, and subsequently became part of the patrimony of Christ Church, Oxford.

Abbot Edmund Ford engaged the services of the architect Giles Gilbert Scott to plan restoration and conversion of the building.

It dates from 1794, and previously stood on the High Altar of the Chapel of the Bavarian Embassy, Golden Square, London.

Other church furnishings, including the Jacobean panelling behind the High Altar (now carrying the words "Deus Caritas Est", or God is Love), were taken from the buildings of Downside Abbey and School.