The Nave of the current church was built in 1739 and is the sole colonial-era building which survived the various wars that Norfolk has witnessed.

[5] Following his defeat at the Battle of Great Bridge, Lord Dunmore attacked Norfolk from the sea as he fled Virginia on January 1, 1776.

[6][7] The church was the only major building in the city to escape substantial damage in the assault,[8][9] though a cannonball (purportedly fired by the Liverpool)[10] did strike its wall.

Visiting the church while in Norfolk during World War II, Lord Louis Mountbatten is reputed to have said that Dunmore's cannonball "damn near missed" its target.

Accordingly, his funeral service was held in St Paul's and his body was finally laid to rest in the rotunda of the Douglas MacArthur Memorial (the former courthouse in Norfolk) on 11 April 1964.