St James church in Peckham Rye was opened in 1905. It was one of over 20 churches built in the early years of the 20th Century under the financial patronage of Miss Frances Ellis (1846-1930), an heiress who converted to Catholicism and was received into the Church in January 1901.

Miss Ellis inherited a considerable fortune from her parents, and dedicated her life to founding new churches, hospitals, hospices, orphanages and nursing homes. Her vision in building so many churches in South London, at a time of enormous population increase, created new parishes and facilitated attendance at Mass for thousands of people who otherwise would have had no local parish church.

It was her specific request that each of her churches should be small, simple and Romanesque in style. They came to be known as Miss Ellis boxes. The architect of several of them was F W Tasker, and the building is plain and unpretentious structure, with a large rose window. The church was extended over the years to facilitate growing congregations and re-ordered in 2011. A striking feature is the modern stained glass rose window which was commissioned by Fr. Jack Dillon, designed by John Barber FCSD FRSA of Graphicus Design and built by Angelo Camenzuli, Stained Glass Designer and Artist, Swansea.