The Cathedral Church was built as a memorial to the Christians who were killed during the Mau Mau uprising and specifically during the period of emergency from 1952. Their names are well written in a plaque at the back of the Cathedral Church near the West door. Money for the construction of the Church was raised through a fundraiser in London and a loan guaranteed by the Archbishop of Canterbury then Geoffrey Fisher. The same Archbishop Fisher laid the foundation stone of the Cathedral Church on 18th May 1955 after extending his itinerary from Uganda where he had gone to consecrate Bishop Kariuki and Olang as Ass. Bishops. 

Archbishop Fisher also came back on 12th October 1958 to Consecrate the Church, a service which was attended by 4000 natives who withstood a heavy downpour during the service. The Church became a pastorate in 1961 with the Rev. Allan Page becoming the first Vicar. In the same year, the church also became the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Forthall. In the whole of East and Central Africa North of the Limpopo and south of the Sahara, this is the only Cathedral with murals depicting the life of Christ. The murals were drawn by Elimo Njau in 1959. Elimo Njaus address today  is at  Paa ya Paa art centre in Nairobi. The Cathedral has undergone various renovations and enlargements to what it is today. From 1961 to date, the Cathedral has been served by a total of 14 Clergymen with the exception of the current Provost who is the first lady to become a Provost. Two of the provosts who served the Cathedral went on and became Bishops i.e Sospeter Magua 1971-1973 and Isaack Ng’ang’a 1994-1995.The Very. Rev. James Kibe served the longest from 1976-1993.