Our History

The story of St James, Alperton began not with a building, but with mission.

In 1890, Revd Alfred Maynard of St John’s, Wembley began an outreach in Alperton using a simple mission tent. He was concerned that many local people were not connected with any place of worship, and he longed for the Christian message of hope and salvation to be shared in the area. That tent mission became the seed from which St James would grow.

A mission room replaced the tent in 1893, and in 1896 a corrugated iron mission church was built on Ealing Road, opposite Honeypot Lane, now Mount Pleasant. In 1904, St James was officially formed as a separate ecclesiastical district, created from part of the parish of St John the Evangelist, Wembley, for the spiritual care of the people of Alperton.

The first permanent church building was built in Stanley Avenue and consecrated in 1912. It was designed by William Pite and funded through generous gifts, grants, and the regular offerings of local people. St James was not built simply by large donations, but by the faithful giving and prayers of a growing Christian community.

In 1917, after the building debt had been cleared, the Bishop of Willesden prayed that St James would be “a living centre of heavenly influence and power.” That prayer has shaped the heart of our church’s story: to be a place where worship, prayer, teaching, fellowship, and service of love flow out into the wider community for the glory of God.

Over the decades, St James became a centre of parish life. Its Sunday School, youth groups, Mothers’ Union, mission societies, choirs, uniformed organisations, and community activities served generations of local families. At its height in the 1950s, the Sunday School had around 550 children.

But Alperton changed, and St James changed with it. What began as a small village became a busy London suburb. From the 1950s onwards, people from the Caribbean, India, Sri Lanka, East Africa, and many other parts of the world made Alperton their home. The parish became increasingly multi-cultural and multi-faith, and St James sought to respond with welcome, faithfulness, and renewed mission.

By the 1980s, the original church building was facing serious structural problems. After years of prayer, discussion, financial challenge, and discernment, the old building was demolished and replaced by the present St James Church Centre. The new building officially opened on 23 June 1990 as a sign that the Christian faith remained alive and active in the heart of Alperton.

Today, St James continues the story that began in a tent: a church rooted in the gospel, shaped by prayer, and called to serve a changing community. We give thanks for all who have worshipped, served, prayed, given, and witnessed here across the generations — and we look forward in faith to all that God will do among us in the years ahead.