St George's church, Sudbury owes its existence to the generosity of Miss Frances Elizabeth Westwood of Marylebone and Mr George Beale of Elmwood. On June 11th 1924 Miss Westwood spoke to the curate at the Church of the Holy Rosary, Marylebone about providing money to build a new church in the Diocese. Suitable sites in nearby Swiss Cottage could not be found and two other sites, Saint Margaret-on-Thames and Sudbury were considered, Sudbury was selected. A large area of land had already been given by Mr Beale out of part of his estate. With the help of Miss Westwood, additional land was purchased so that the priest's house could adjoin the church.

On the recommendation of Mr William Lunning of Regent's Park, Miss Westwood and Father Russell viewed a recently built church in Oxted, Surrey. They were so impressed by its simple beauty that they requested the services of the architect, Mr Leonard Williams of Harpenden. Father Russell was interested in keeping the tradition of the unbroken loyalty between England and Rome so the design of the church was inspired by this. Plans were drawn up and approved. However, Mr Williams became ill, and work slowed. It was decided to form a temporary church while the building works were carried out. On November 23rd 1925 the foundation stone of the new permanent church was laid under the north-east corner of the Sanctuary. A bishop would have normally performed this role, but by permission of Cardinal Bourne, Father Russell was allowed to carry out the quiet ceremony.