The earliest reference to the church is as St Michael Aedredeshuda in the 12th century (Aethelredhyth being an earlier name for Queenhithe).

According to Malcolm in London Redivivum, the church officers thanked Sir James Thornhill – father-in-law of Hogarth and painter of the grisailles on the ceiling of St Paul's Cathedral for his “liberality in repairing and improving the painting which adorned the altar” in 1721.

Due to the move of population from the City to the suburbs in the second half of the nineteenth century, the church became redundant and the last service held in December 1875.

[6] The tower, on the northwest corner, was surmounted by a steeple reminiscent of a ziggurat, with five steps ascending on four sides to a pointed leaded spire rearing from the dais.

At the top of the spire was a vane in the shape of a three-masted barque, of the type used to carry corn – a reference to the chief cargo unloaded at the nearby dock.