[1] Before the church was built, Roman Catholics congregated for Mass in rooms of houses.

The first post-Reformation Catholic chapel in Exeter was recorded in 1791 near the remains of St Nicholas' Priory, and this building was subsequently replaced by Sacred Heart Church.

[2] The site of the church was previously the Bear Tavern, which before the Dissolution of the Monasteries was the town house of the abbots of Tavistock Abbey.

There is contained within the church a statue of St Thomas More, a martyr of the Reformation, as well as a banner of the five wounds.

A committee was formed in 1788 with the intention of serving Exeter's Catholic population, which was estimated at the time to be around 300 people.

[4] The local diocesan bishop oversaw the committee, and construction began as soon as enough funds were raised.

[3][5] Inside, the church was made using materials such as Bath Corsham, Pocombe and Portland stone; the total construction cost approximately £10,000.

Originally designed as a pointed spire, the 140 feet (43 m) flat-top tower contains a bell of 51 kilograms (112 lb).

Fr Barney, parish priest, claimed afterwards to have seen the sign of the Cross within the sky on the night of the raid which almost destroyed the church.

[4] Sacred Heart was re-ordered along the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council, with a wooden altar installed in 1966 to allow the priests to celebrate Mass facing the people.