When the church was first built the area was mostly open countryside with only four houses and in between singing the choir boys played around on the haystacks by the church.

In the early part of the 20th century it was standing room only with hundreds attending services day and night.

The need for a church was first discussed in 1852 because Croydon was not adequately provided for in religion and there was a grand plan to build 600 new churches.

In 1868 in the Parish Room of the former hall, in Norfolk Road, the original church stood made of corrugated iron. 

The curate of All Saints’ Church, Upper Norwood, The Revd R M Browne started services and was a leading figure in getting the permanent church built.

In 1871 plans were drawn up to build the new church which cost £3,500 and the decision made to dedicate the church to St Paul. 

The first baptism was recorded on September 17, 1871 and first marriage took place on August 19, 1872. 

The church was consecrated on July 6, 1872 by the Bishop of Dover and later that year the Archbishop of Canterbury visited and preached.

By 1901 the original church building was added to due to the growth in the area of both houses and population.

Morning and evening the church was crowded and if you didn’t get there early you didn’t get a seat, as attendance numbered 600.

There have been many restorations to the building over the years. 

Two of the large windows were blown out during the second world war and the coloured stain glass replaced in 1948 with plain glass.

But if you look closely enough in one of the windows you can still see a small piece of red grass remaining.

In 1986 there was a radical plan to reduce the church in size and build homes around it but this was strenuously rejected.

In August 1999 the rationalisation of the building was discussed again culminating in a major reorder in 2011 which you see today.