Until the early 19th century, the area covered by the present town of Eastbourne was thinly populated: there were four small settlements separated by farmland.

[2] Housing developed near Hampden Park railway station (initially named Willingdon) after it opened in 1888.

He received support from Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon and his wife Marie: he gave land for the church and she arranged a fundraising concert which added £200 (£27,200 in 2025)[5] to the building fund.

[4] Architect William Hay Murray designed a Vernacular-style red-brick, stone and tile building with windows extending above the line of the eaves.

[4][6] Born in London, Murray had established an architectural practice in Hastings by 1874 and had apparently moved to Eastbourne by 1894.

In December 1948, the Diocese of Chichester commissioned architect Edward Maufe to design a new church on the site.

[9] At the same time, work on a long-planned church in The Hydneye, a suburban area east of the railway line, was taking place.

Donald Carpenter, the first incumbent at the new church, served for 21 years and is commemorated by a clock on the south face of the tower.

[11] The style is a simplified, unadorned interpretation of Perpendicular Gothic Revival with elements of the domestic Vernacular style—in particular in the treatment of the wood-framed nave windows.

[6][9][11] The wide tower and the church's position on a low hill next to the park make it stand out from the surrounding houses.

They have square bases and lack mouldings or capitals,[9][11] recalling Maufe's earlier (1934) St Thomas the Apostle's Church at Hanwell, London.

[9] Stone sedilia are placed in an arched recess near the central altar in the sanctuary, whose ceiling is decorated with stars.