A church has existed in the northernmost part of Norwich since the 11th century, when the medieval city had a large population, but the heath and wooded countryside beyond the city walls was largely unpopulated.

After the English Reformation, the parish of St James was enlarged to include the chapel parish of St Catherine (in Thorpe Wood), which included the riverside hamlet of Pockthorpe and all of what now remains of Mousehold Heath. There was a vicarage, located at the bottom of Ketts Hill, where there is now a roundabout.

During the 19th century, the population of Norwich grew rapidly. New terraced houses appeared north of St James to house the extra workers and their families. New public houses, shops, factories and schools were built, whilst the yards of Pockthorpe became overcrowded slums - the parish became known as the poorest in Norwich.  

The small medieval church of St James, tucked away in the corner of the parish, was deemed to be too small, and in 1903 a "chapel of ease" was built at the top of Silver Road - St Mary Magdalene's. The location for the new church, to the north of the river, the brewery, and the barracks, was in a more central part of the parish. The church was designed by the Norwich architect Arthur Lacey.

The first vicar, Alfred Ellis, was installed in 1909. He moved to live in the new vicarage next door to the church in 1911, and remained there as the vicar of St Mary Magdalene until his death in 1948. By the 1950s, most church services were being held at St Mary Magdalene instead of at St James. 

In 1972, St James was finally closed, the first of many medieval Norwich churches to be become redundant. St James was then re-purposed - initially as a night shelter for the homeless, and then as the new home for the Norwich Puppet Theatre, which opened in 1980.  

During the 1930s, the old yards were condemned and demolished, and their inhabitants were relocated to new housing estates in Norwich. The area's factories, and most of the pubs and shops of the parish, disappeared as well. The old buildings of Barrack Street were eventually replaced by modern buildings and parking areas, and the once narrow street was transformed to become a part of the city's busy ring road. St James now stands alone as an isolated reminder of a lost age. 

There was enough space at St Mary Magdalene's for it to acquire a new church hall, but as with many other churches, it was forced to sell off its vicarage.