The church originated in 1870 as a
mission to the new district of
Colney Hatch by the assistant
curate of
Christ Church, Southgate. The church was built in 1873. In 1873 it became a consolidated chapelry, formed from Southgate and
Friern Barnet parishes, with the
vicar of Southgate as
Patron of the new living. Attendance on
census Sunday 1903 was 206 in the morning and 265 in the evening. St Paul's Parish Church has, for much of its history, embraced a Churchmanship that tries to reach out to worshippers wherever they are in the liturgical tradition. This has included a more
Anglo-Catholic approach which began with the introduction of High Mass in 1914. Services were held in a temporary building in Ely Place until a church was built on land between Betstyle Road (later High Road) and Woodland Road probably given by G. Knights Smith, one of the largest subscribers. The foundation stone was laid in 1872 and the church, built of stone in the
Early English style under the direction of
Sir George Gilbert Scott, was
consecrated in 1873. It consists of
chancel with north and south chapels and south bell
turret and aisled
nave. The fabric, which was severely damaged by bombing in 1944, was restored by R. S. Morris by 1957. A stone
vicarage, built in Woodland Road opposite the church in 1878–80, was demolished in 1964, and was replaced by a purpose-built
vicarage on land in the
churchyard, to the west of the church. A parish hall was built to the north of the church in 1908, and partially rebuilt in 1952. ==References==