[1] The church was founded in 1843, the first in London to champion the ideals of the Oxford Movement, during the incumbency of the Rev.

[2] After the building's consecration in 1843, the chancel with its rood screen and striking reredos was added in 1892 by the noted church architect George Frederick Bodley, who also decorated St Luke's chapel, which stands in the place of a lady chapel to the south of the sanctuary, the lady chapel of St Paul's having traditionally been seen as being the church of St Mary's, Bourne Street.

The tiled panels around the walls of the nave, created in the 1870s by Daniel Bell, depict scenes from the life of Jesus.

The Stations of the Cross that intersperse the tiled panels, painted in the early 1920s by Gerald Moira, show scenes from the crucifixion story.

[3] A memorial in the church commemorates 52 members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry who died on active service during the Second World War while carrying out secret intelligence work for the Special Operations Executive in occupied countries in addition to providing transport drivers for the Auxiliary Territorial Service.