In 1827 the Church Building Commissioners made a grant for the purchase of a piece of land, formerly part of Cotmansfield and then used as nursery ground, for the erection of a parochial chapel attached to St. Mary's" Lambeth. On this ground, at the corner of Ward Street and Black Prince Road the Church of St. Mary the Less was built from the designs of Francis Bedford, architect of St. John's, Waterloo Road. It was consecrated in 1828, schools being added on the adjoining ground in 1837. St. Mary the Less was made into a separate parish in 1842.

The church is designed in Gothic style and is built in grey brick with stone dressings. It has a stone octagonal spirelet mounted on an open arcaded stage over the south gable. The Interior has plaster vaulted ceilings supported on arcades of thin clustered columns; it is simple in detail and presents a cheerful appearance following the recent redecoration.

List of Vicars. 1846, Robert Gregory; 1874, G. H. W. Bromfield; 1919, E. F. E. Partington; 1923, B. P. T. Jenkins; 1935, R. G. Morecombe; 1938, Leslie Stevenson; 1945, C. R. Seear.