St Anne's Church was consecrated by Henry Compton, Bishop of London on 21st March 1686. The architects were either Sir Christopher Wren or Mr William Talman or, possibly, both. Building began in 1677 on the plot the current church stands on in what was then Soho Fields of a church of Basilican plan, about eighty feet long and sixty four feet wide. The church was destroyed by a bomb in September 1940. The tower, however, survived.
The tower visible today is not the original building however; the tower built with the original church was seventy feet high and was not completed with a timber spire until 1718, when John Meard, a local carpenter produced plans for a spire. By 1800 the tower had become unstable and rebuilding was necessary. The vestry appointed a "Tower Rebuilding Committee" to manage the task which reported to the Rector at the Annual Vestry Meeting that during the previous year had held forty one meetings, "and all to no avail"! The Vestry instructed Mr S.P. Cockerell, Architect, to draw up plans for a replacement tower, The old tower was demolished down to ground floor level and by 1801 the brickwork of the new tower was complete. By March 1803 the portland stonework of the bell chamber was in place and the copper cupola was finished that May. The original clock bell was cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel (who incidentally are still there!) in 1691 and weight about 1 ton was re-hung in the new tower. This is the bell on which the Parish Clock still strikes to this day.
The ground floor room of the tower is the original vestry room where the public affairs of the Parish of Soho were directed. It was used in this century as a clergy vestry. There is an empty brick vault under the floor some fourteen feet deep. The ashes of Miss Dorothy L Sayers, former Churchwarden of the parish and the well known novelist and theologian are under the floor.
The first floor room was used for the storage of the Parish records which are now housed rather more appropriately by the Archives Department of Westminster City Council. There is some interesting ancient graffiti in this room. The second floor room houses the Parish Clock, a double three legged gravity escapement installed by Gillet & Johnston (also still in existence) in 1884. The clock at the time cost £208. 10s 0d and was guaranteed to run within a limited of plus or minus two seconds a week, something it still does to this day. It was restored in 1979 by Soho clockmaker Michael McCoy to mark the Queens Silver Jubilee. The clock is wound twice a week and strikes the hours during the day, while at night, electronically wizardry keeps the bell silent while the clock continues to think it is striking.
The upper floors of the tower are not easily or safely accessible and contain the enclosed bell chamber with further small enclosed rooms up to the clock dials; because of the rather peculiar design of the tower it is not possible to see out from the upper levels of the tower.
The tower, which is now Grade II listed, was derelict after the bombing though it was used as a chapel for a while in the 1950's. In 1979 it was partly restored by The Soho Society and in 1991 as part of the redevelopment of the whole church site the tower was completely renovated at a cost of £150,000.