The church, consecrated in 1869 was designed in a Gothic Revival style by British architect Sir George Gilbert Scott.

This cathedral designation was however mainly by way of common convention than fact as the titular bishop of the Anglican Communion located in Shanghai at the time was Channing Moore Williams of the Episcopal Church.

[1] Thomas Chaye Beale of Dent & Co. purchased and donated the current site of Holy Trinity as a gift to the church.

The first church structure on the site was of poor quality; the roof collapsing, following intense rainfall,[2] on 24 June 1850.

When introduced in 1914, the church had the largest organ in Asia an instrument supplied by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd of London.

Peter Hibbard, who described it as "a central feature of British life in a faraway land," was consulted in its restoration.

[9] It now serves as the headquarters of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, having been used for police offices and the exit visa bureau.