A building called the "King's Weyhows" is mentioned in 1460, where two men lived or worked as porters. The church was formed around 1695 when
Thomas Reynolds was called as minister. In 1697 the congregation built a meeting house over the King's
Weigh House in Little
Eastcheap, and from this home the church took its name. The King's Weigh House was where "Merchant Strangers" were required to have their goods weighed so that customs duties could be assessed. It was rebuilt after the
Fire of London. Reynolds ministered until 1727, then James Wood, 1727–42; William Langford, 1742–75; Samuel Wilton, 1776–1778; and
John Clayton 1778–1826.
Thomas Binney, 1829–69, was one of the notable Congregational ministers of the nineteenth century. During Binney's time the Weigh House site was required for widening the approaches to
London Bridge. In 1833-4 a new building in Fish Street Hill designed by William Tate and seating 1000 people was erected. Prominent members during this period included
Samuel Morley and
George Williams who founded the
YMCA in 1844. . Binney was succeeded by William Braden, then Alexander Sandison, 1880–1901. In 1882 the church site was compulsorily purchased by the
Metropolitan Railway. By now many members lived in the suburbs and there was less need to relocate in the
City of London. The
Duke of Westminster offered a site in
Mayfair, part of which was occupied by a small Congregational church in Robert [now Weigh House] Street. The offer was accepted and in 1891 the new building in Duke Street, designed by
Alfred Waterhouse was opened. The church was of red brick with buff terracotta dressings. It has an oval nave and a tower in the southwest corner, built in a Romanesque style. The builders were John Shillitoe & Son, the structural steel work was by
Andrew Handyside and Company, heating and ventilation was by G. N. Haden, the ceramic tiles were manufactured by
Craven Dunnill, faience tiling was by
Burmantofts, and decorative ironwork by Hart Son Peard & Co.. The cost was £26,495. Sandison was succeeded by John Hunter, 1901–4, F.A. Russell, then E.W. Lewis. The next minister
William E. Orchard ministered from 1914. During his pastorate the style of worship became increasing Catholic, and after Orchard's resignation in 1932, he joined the
Catholic Church. Notable is the fact that in 1917 Claud and
Constance Coltman were ordained as assistant ministers, the latter being a member of the church before training at
Mansfield College, Oxford and one of the first women to be ordained in a mainstream English denomination. The next years were ones of decline. On 20 October 1940 a bomb fell on the chancel during a communion service, killing the minister's wife and injuring one other. The building was requisitioned as a fire watching centre and rest centre. In 1945 22 members decided to revive the work and appointed W.J.E. Jeffery as minister, with assistance from Claud and Constance Coltman who returned in 1946. ==Architectural history==