The steeple was completed in September 1717, but the church was not consecrated for use until 1 January 1724, by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London,[5] when the Rev.

Bonnie Prince Charlie is alleged to have renounced his Roman Catholic faith in the church to become an Anglican during a secret visit to London in 1750.

[7] It was restored in 1871 by Robert Jewell Withers, who removed the box pews and had them re-formed into the elegant benches with scrolling sides that one sees in the church today.

In fact, the renovated ceilings of the nave and chancel, together with the tastefully coloured walls of this beautiful church, are well worthy of an inspection by all true lovers of architecture, and reflect great credit, on the architect, Mr. R. J. Withers, of 51, Doughty street.

At the start of the 20th century the London County Council proposed to demolish the church to widen the Strand; a campaign involving the artist Walter Crane succeeded in averting this, although the graveyard was obliterated and the graves moved to Brookwood Cemetery.

The architecture of St Mary le Strand proved controversial from the outset, and the architect later expressed unhappiness at the way that his plans had been altered by the Commissioners.

According to Gibbs, the church was originally intended to be an Italianate structure with a small campanile over the west end and no steeple.

Instead of the latter, a column 250 feet (76 m) high surmounted with a statue of Queen Anne was to have been erected a short distance to the west of the church.