Abbot Ford, in accepting the mission from the Cardinal, always had in mind to set up a school in Ealing and by 1899 it was noted that the cost of buildings purchased was already £10,000 and a further £5,000 was the estimated cost of the first part of the intended church. The growth of the mission was hampered by the lack of a school and finally permission having been granted Father Sebastian Cave arrived in late September to start the school in newly acquired property in 39 Blakesley Avenue. At 10.00am on 2nd October 1902 Ealing Catholic School opened to the first three pupils.

The first part of the church was completed by 1904.

By 1915 the parish congregation had reached 800 and in 1916 the status of Ealing was raised to be an independent priory in the summer of that year with Father Wulstan Pearson, from Downside, becoming the first Prior.

A war memorial chapel of the Holy Souls was completed in 1928, balancing the existing Lady Chapel. Plans to construct a further five bays, together with a western front, were helped by a substantial legacy of £25,000 from Mrs Matilda Schwind in 1929. These additions were built in yellow Guiting stone from a quarry near Cheltenham, faced with Bath stone to match the existing central bays, and completed in 1934 at a cost of £31,000, which excluded the new Compton organ installed at the same time.

updated 13th May 2007