The church was built at a cost of £900[1] from 1832 to 1834, according to a design by the noted Scottish architect Archibald Simpson,[2] who was responsible for the construction of many of the notable buildings in nearby Aberdeen.

Elizabeth Brodie was an Episcopalian at the time the church was built, but since she was born in London and her household, servants and many of her visitors were from England, she favoured services that followed the English Book of Common Prayer over the Scottish Episcopal liturgy.

Gordon-Lennox was succeeded by his son (also Charles) in 1860, who commissioned substantial improvements and renovations to the building by Alexander Ross,[3] including the installation of a hammerbeam roof.

[9] The chapel boasts the largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass windows in Scotland,[9] produced by Morris and Co, some designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

The St Michael window is dedicated to Bernard Charles Gordon-Lennox, third son of the seventh Duke of Richmond, who was killed in fighting near Ypres in November 2014, aged 36, during the First World War.