The church of THE HOLY CROSS, Hornchurch Road, originated in 1920, when a hut, formerly a chapel in the army camp at Grey Towers, was re-erected at the corner of Malvern Road and Park Lane, to serve as a mission church and social centre for north-west Hornchurch. The mission was at first run jointly by the Church Army and the vicar of Hornchurch, but in 1922 the vicar assumed complete responsibility. A new parish, taken out of St. Andrew, was formed in 1925, the advowson of the vicarage being vested in New College and the bishop alternately. In 1933 a permanent church was built on a new site at the corner of Hornchurch Road and Park Lane.