Previously, the local Catholic community had used a small chapel on London Road, also dedicated to St George, but the arrival of Irish immigrants in the area necessitated the construction of a larger house of worship.

[1] In October 1920 St George's was the site of the funeral Mass of Irish nationalist Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, who died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison.

Within the external structure of Pugin's building, Romilly Craze designed a rebuilt 20th century Gothic revival cathedral, which was opened in 1958.

[6] The surviving elements of the bombed cathedral were the two chantries and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, which had been designed by Pugin's son Edward in 1856.

Since the reconstruction it has resumed its role as a focal point in the local community and has played host to many notable visitors, including the Dalai Lama (1998) and Pope John Paul II (1982), the latter being depicted in one of the cathedral's stained-glass windows by Goddard & Gibbs.

Easter 2011 saw the partial restoration of the Compton organ and the installation in the chancel of the George Pace Choir Stalls, a gift from the Anglican St Alban's Cathedral.

[10] A more recent feature is the installation of a cross by the Salvadoran artist Fernando Llort in 2013, as a national shrine to the murdered Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Romero.

The cathedral is located on a historic site next to Wellington Mills housing estate and close to the Imperial War Museum, and a few minutes' walk from London's South Bank and the Thames, Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, and landmarks such as St Thomas' Hospital and Waterloo station.