First built in 1793 for Catholic seamen at the nearby Royal Hospital, the church was later rebuilt in 1851 by Willian Wilkinson Wardell, with interior designs by Augustus Pugin.
The congregation was largely Irish-born, but also included sailors from Portugal, the Cape Verde islands, and as far away as Brazil and India.
Greenwich is a place that has a long and almost insuperable history with maritime affairs, ships and the sea. This church, on the hill, overlooks the wide expanses of the River Thames and the Royal Naval College below. For generations the congregation of this small and ancient church has been made up of citizens of Greenwich who have had a connection to the boats that pass by on the river. Today, although much of the seafaring has ended, the people who worship there still remember their church's history.
