It was originally founded in the 1960s as a chapel-of-ease later serving as a mass centre before becoming its own quasi-parish within the personal ordinariate in 2011, following a conversion of a large number of Anglicans in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

A small chapel was added to the hall in 1980 to alleviate this, though it lost its certification as a registered place of worship.

[3] In 2011, St Anselm's was granted the status of quasi-parish by the Archbishop of Southwark,[5] This came about because it had become a part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham for Anglican converts, allowing former members of the Church of England to break away and join the Catholic church whilst retaining Anglican traditions in the liturgy.

[1][7] For its first three years, the church had few sacred ornaments, relied on a temporary altar on wheels to conduct services, and shared its space with community groups.

[2][8] With funding from parishioners and neighbouring Catholic parishes, a permanent altar, Stations of the Cross, and other church furnishings were installed with a lychgate built outside, allowing the church to be used solely for Christian worship.