Hymns Ancient and Modern is a hymnal in common use within the Church of England, a result of the efforts of the Oxford Movement.

[14]: 22  The idea for the hymn-book arose in 1858 when two clergymen, both part of the Oxford Movement, met on a train: William Denton of St Bartholomew, Cripplegate, co-editor of the Church Hymnal (1853)[15] and Francis Henry Murray, editor of the Hymnal for Use in the English Church[16][17][14] Denton suggested that the 1852 Hymnal for use in the English Church by Francis Murray and the Hymns and Introits[18] by George Cosby White should be amalgamated to satisfy the need for standardisation of the hymn books in use throughout England.

Given the lack of unanimity in the church's use of hymns, Henry Williams Baker thought it necessary to compile one book which would command general confidence.

[3] After ascertaining by private communications the widespread desire of churchmen for greater uniformity in the use of hymns and of hymnbooks in the services of the Church, Sir Henry Baker, vicar of Monkland in the diocese of Hereford, early in 1858 associated himself for this purpose with about twenty clergymen, including the editors of many existing hymnals, who agreed to give up their several books to try to promote the use of one standard hymn book.

[3] They founded a board, called the "Proprietors", which oversaw both the publication of the hymnal and the application of the profits to support appropriate charities, or to subsidise the purchase of the hymn books by poor parishes.

[19][20] The first full edition with tunes, under the musical editorship of Professor W. H. Monk, King's College, London, appeared on 20 March 1861.

[22] Sources included:[10][3][2] Henry Williams Baker wrote and translated many of the hymns which it contains, and his ability, his profound knowledge of hymnology, and his energetic discharge of the duties of chairman of its committee for twenty years, mainly contributed to its success.

Among the hymns with newly-composed tunes were Eternal Father, Strong to Save and Praise to the Holiest in the Height (John Bacchus Dykes), Onward, Christian Soldiers (Arthur Sullivan) and Abide with Me (William Henry Monk).

[20] More specifically, there were separate sections grouped according to liturgical criteria: hymns for the daily offices, Sunday, the church year, Holy Communion and other sacraments, and the various feasts.

[20] Hymns Ancient and Modern experienced immediate and overwhelming success, becoming possibly the most popular English hymnal ever published.

Many hymns were weeded out from the 1950 edition as the editors wished to make space for more recent compositions and to thin out the over-supplemented previous versions.

In 2000 Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd, through its subsidiary the Canterbury Press, published a new hymnal, this time called Common Praise.

The Japanese edition of Hymns Ancient Modern, called Kokin Seika Shū (古今聖歌集), was published in 1902 by the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), with the subsequent several revisions.