Wagner's son, Arthur, had been ordained in 1850. When his father died, Arthur Wagner inherited his wealth and set out to build a church both to commemorate him and to fulfil the plans he had towards the end of his life. To achieve this he convened with his half-brothers Joshua and Henry and decided on a site. The area chosen was largely under construction at the time, with large numbers of small terraced houses for poorer people being built to fill the space around the Lewes Road. Some of this development was funded by Arthur Wagner himself, and as neither this area nor the nearby Round Hill district had a proper church, it was considered appropriate to finance and oversee the building of a church at the same time. (A small temporary church which had been built on a nearby street became a school when St Martin's Church opened.)