Brighton's increasing popularity in the early 19th century, especially among high society, encouraged wealthy people to build proprietary chapels—private churches with no parish but with an Anglican minister.

[1][3] The 3rd Earl of Egremont, who lived on the Petworth House estate in West Sussex, also owned East Lodge, whose grounds extended down to St James's Street.

[3] Wilds adopted the then-fashionable Neoclassical style for his design, and created a temple-style structure which bore some resemblance to the Brighton Unitarian Church which he had built six years earlier.

Henry had been ordained as a priest in 1824 after spending a year as a deacon, and initially held the curacy of a rural parish in Suffolk.

The capacity was 947, and 240 free pews were offered at a time when pew-rents were the norm (and helped to pay for Henry Venn Elliott's stipend).

[10] By this time, the church was in a dilapidated condition; in June 1876, just as some money had been set aside for reconstruction, and initial repairs were being carried out, the chancel walls caved in, the roof fell inwards and the building collapsed.

[2][10][11] Instead of trying to repair the ruin, it was decided that a new church should be built in the Gothic style which was by that time the most popular design for ecclesiastical buildings in England.

Future President of the RIBA Sir William Emerson, who until then had worked almost exclusively on architectural commissions in India, was asked to design the new building.

As a result, it recommended either complete closure or the use of most of the building for a community project in conjunction with Brighton and Hove City Council, leaving space for a small Anglican chapel to be created.

[2][12][13][14][15][16] It was built of red brick in Flemish bond with some external sandstone and terracotta dressings and Bath stonework inside.