The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early-English styles.

Around 1100, his eldest son, Godfrey (great-uncle of Aubrey, 1st Earl of Oxford),[4] was taken seriously ill and cared for by Faritius, abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary at Abingdon.

The epithet of Abbots is deemed to derive from its link with the ancient Abingdon Abbey rather than that subsequently with the diocese of the Bishop of London.

This resulted in the patronage of the church passing to the bishop in perpetuity but rights over the surrounding land remaining with the abbey.

[2] When William III relocated the Royal Court to Kensington Palace in 1689 the area became fashionable rendering the medieval church too small, thus it was demolished at the end of the 17th century and replaced by a Late Renaissance-style building.

The architect George Gilbert Scott was engaged and recommended the demolition of the existing church to take advantage of the site at the road junction.