The church was planned to accommodate over 1000 people at a time when the population of Catford was little more than 5000. In the 1880s the bulk of the new inhabitants of Catford were lower middle and artisan class and it was for them that the church was primarily established.

It was demolished in 1968 for the eventual town hall extension and a new St. Laurence Church was built in Bromley Road.

St. Laurence's Church was consecrated in November 1887. It was built of Bracknell brick and Corsham stone in a style described by the architect, H. Roumieu Gough, as Early English, with a squat square tower topped by a slated pyramid.