The first church on the St Alban's site was the iron "Mission Room" erected in 1892, as a daughter church of St Mary, Prittlewell. By 1897, £1290 had been raised to fund a larger church, while the original building continued use as a church hall. As Southend expanded as a seaside resort in the late 19th century, the religious needs of the increasing population were catered for by new mission churches, initially housed in temporary corrugated iron chapels, bought from catalogues and erected quickly and relatively cheaply. Known colloquially as 'Tin Tabernacles', few of these early corrugated iron chapels survive.