Now a priest, Wilkinson was sent to St Barnabas, Pimlico where the effects of the "ritual riots" – a series of protests against high church practices in use there – were being felt.

It was these riots that influenced Wilkinson, supported by a number of wealthy ladies from the Pimlico congregation, to conceive the idea of an Anglo-Catholic sanctuary away from the troubles of Central London.

[1] Amongst those who financially contributed to the building of the new church were Lady Anne Antrobus, wife of Sir Edmund Antrobus, her sister-in-law through marriage, The Hon Jane Duff-Gordon, and a young dowager, Amelia, Lady Boston (widow of George Irby, 4th Baron Boston and daughter of John Saumarez, 3rd Baron de Saumarez).

Mrs. Jane Duff-Gordon moved to Lavender Hill and the plot of land on which the church stands was purchased, thanks to the generosity of Lady Boston.

[1] The foundation stone was laid on 1 June 1874, by John Patrick Boyle, Earl of Glasgow; according to Henry Simmonds in All About Battersea (1882) it was situated "under the altar" of the temporary church.

[2] Francis Bumpus noted the French Cistercian influence on the Ascension, and on his Holy Innocents in Hammersmith, saying that both buildings were "conceived in a bold and vigorous Early Pointed style, recalling such Burgundian examples as Auxerre and Pontigny" and admirably adapted to contemporary requirements.

[1] The then Parish Priest Fr John Cuthbert CMP, praised the work of the fire service, recognizing that without their assistance the damage sustained to the building would have been far worse.

[1] The Ascension, Lavender Hill is an Anglo-Catholic church which is affiliated to Forward in Faith, and served by priests of the Society of the Holy Cross.