The funding of the church was provided by Miss Louisa Ann Ryland. The church was designed by J A Chatwin and built in brick, with the tracery of the windows in Corsham Down Bath stone. The contractor was Charles Jones of Belmont Row, Birmingham. It was consecrated on 25 June 1868 by the Bishop of Worcester.[2] A parish was assigned out of St Matthew's Church, Duddeston and Nechells in 1868.
Thomas J. Bass, vicar at St Lawrence's from 1897 to 1925, was an author and outspoken critic of poverty and slums.[3][4] He also served as secretary of the city's Sanitary Aid Committee.