The mission was established in March 1848 by Bishop
William Bernard Ullathorne, who purchased a site opposite
Lawford's Gate Prison for £1,000. Early worship took place in a temporary chapel near Stapleton Road before the permanent church was established. The location, then considered part of
St Philip's or
The Dings, was an area of "extreme poverty" heavily populated by Irish Catholic refugees fleeing the
Great Famine; this demographic made up the majority of the church's early congregation. The mission was initially entrusted to the
Augustinians, with the Rev. Nicholas O'Donnell serving as the first priest. The church was named after the 13th-century Augustinian friar
Nicholas of Tolentino, and the nave was opened on 21 December 1850, having been constructed at a cost of £1,600. In 1852, the Augustinians resigned the mission, after which it was staffed by diocesan clergy. The church saw rapid expansion in the mid-19th century to accommodate its growing congregation. By 1861, the parish schools were overcrowded, with an average attendance of 110 girls and 85 boys. The Rev. T. M. Hoskins drove a major enlargement project to provide more space for both worship and education. To manage the lack of space, one of the newly constructed aisles was temporarily screened off during the week to function as a boys' school, allowing the existing schoolrooms to be merged for the use of the girls. Septimus Canon Coxon had arrived at the mission in August 1872, having previously served at
Cannington in Somerset. A further expansion followed in 1873 under Coxon, which added a new chancel and presbytery. By the completion of these works, the church's capacity had increased to accommodate approximately 700 worshippers. By the late 19th century, the parish complex had expanded to include dedicated educational facilities. Coxon contributed significantly to the expansion of the school facilities; he donated the financial gift presented to him for his sacerdotal
silver jubilee entirely toward the construction of a new classroom. A classroom block designed by T. C. Hodges was constructed between 1879 and 1880, followed by a later block designed by Scoles & Raymond in 1910. These buildings, known collectively as St Nicholas House, served as the parish school until 1985 when the school relocated. The structures were subsequently used as diocesan offices before being demolished in 2008 to make way for a new presbytery and Saints' Court housing development. Because a Catholic church cannot be consecrated while it carries debt, the consecration of St Nicholas of Tolentino did not take place until 10 September 1895, nearly 50 years after its foundation. During his 34-year tenure as rector, Coxon officiated at 1,654 baptisms and 290 marriages by March 1912. From 1915 to 1935, the parish was administered by Canon Peter Murphy, an Irish-born priest who served as the diocesan organiser of the
Apostleship of Prayer and had previously been chaplain to the nearby Convent of the Good Shepherd at
Arno's Court. The church faced challenges in the late 20th century, including an incident in August 1978 where vandals smashed seven stained glass windows, causing approximately £400 worth of damage. In the mid-1990s, the parish was one of multiple in which the Bishop of Clifton,
Mervyn Alexander, banned the
Neocatechumenal Way from holding separate Saturday night meetings. The church was assessed by
English Heritage in 2006 and found not to merit listed status, though it is recorded as an unlisted building of merit within the Old Market Quarter Neighbourhood Development Plan. In 2016, the building was added to the
Bristol Local List by Bristol City Council. == Community and ministry ==