The present church was built in 1628–30, retaining the Tudor tower of its predecessor.
It is larger than the previous church, incorporating a piece of ground previously occupied by a cloister on the north side, and the floor level is considerably higher.
The rebuilt church was consecrated by William Laud,  Bishop of London on 31 January 1631.
His vestments and the form of service that he used for the consecration were later held against him in his trial and conviction for heresy, when Puritans accused him of having displayed Catholic sympathies through his "bowings and cringings."
He is commemorated by a chapel in the church.

The church escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666 and suffered only minor damage in the London Blitz of the Second World War.
However, structural problems required extensive restoration in 1962.
It is now one of the City's Guild churches.

St Katharine Cree is a significant church of the Jacobean period, a time when few new churches were built.
It is the only Jacobean church to have survived in London.
The identity of its architect is unknown.
It has a high nave, linked with the narrow aisles by arcades supported on Corinthian columns.
The church is 31 yards (28 m) long and 17 yards (16 m) wide; the height to the ceiling of the nave is 37 feet (11 m).

The chancel has a rose window, reputedly modelled on the much larger one in Old St Paul's Cathedral (destroyed in the Great Fire).
The window and its stained glass are original, dating from 1630.
The baptismal font dates from around 1640.
The vaulted ceiling bears bosses of the arms of 17 of the City's livery companies; From the East end the Bosses are:
North Aisle - Mercers, Drapers, Skinners, Salters, Dyers and Pewterers
Naïve - The City of London, Fishmongers, Merchant Taylors, Ironmongers, Clothworkers and Leathersellers; and
South Aisle - Grocers, Goldsmiths, Haberdashers, Vinters and Brewers
This dates mostly from the restoration of 1972 and tradition says that these Companies used St Katharine Cree for a time after the Great Fire of London of 1666, whilst their own Guild Churches were being rebuilt.

The church is a Grade I listed building.

By the south wall of St Katharine's is a memorial to HMT Lancastria, a troopship lost at sea during the Second World War in 1940.
It includes a model of the ship and the ship's bell.

St Katharine's has a ring of six bells.
Lester and Pack of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast five of them including the treble bell in 1754.
Thomas II Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the tenor bell in 1842.
The church clock has a bell, also cast by Lester and Pack in 1754.
In the summer of 2007 they were rung for the first time since 1880.
An appeal to raise £60,000 to restore the bells to full ringing order was launched in November 2007, and he project was completed in 2009.
It is the only tower in the City where the bells are rung from a ground floor ringing chamber.

Today St Katharine's is a guild church and has no parish, but chose some years ago to dedicate its ministry to the worlds of finance, commerce and industry.
The present church was built in 1628–30, retaining the Tudor tower of its predecessor. It is larger than the previous church, incorporating a piece of ground previously occupied by a cloister on the north side, and the floor level is considerably higher. The rebuilt church was consecrated by William Laud,  Bishop of London on 31 January 1631. His vestments and the form of service that he used for the consecration were later held against him in his trial and conviction for heresy, when Puritans accused him of having displayed Catholic sympathies through his "bowings and cringings." He is commemorated by a chapel in the church.
The church escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666 and suffered only minor damage in the London Blitz of the Second World War. However, structural problems required extensive restoration in 1962. It is now one of the City's Guild churches.
St Katharine Cree is a significant church of the Jacobean period, a time when few new churches were built. It is the only Jacobean church to have survived in London. The identity of its architect is unknown. It has a high nave, linked with the narrow aisles by arcades supported on Corinthian columns. The church is 31 yards (28 m) long and 17 yards (16 m) wide; the height to the ceiling of the nave is 37 feet (11 m).
The chancel has a rose window, reputedly modelled on the much larger one in Old St Paul's Cathedral (destroyed in the Great Fire). The window and its stained glass are original, dating from 1630. The baptismal font dates from around 1640. The vaulted ceiling bears bosses of the arms of 17 of the City's livery companies; From the East end the Bosses are:
North Aisle - Mercers, Drapers, Skinners, Salters, Dyers and Pewterers
Naïve - The City of London, Fishmongers, Merchant Taylors, Ironmongers, Clothworkers and Leathersellers; and
South Aisle - Grocers, Goldsmiths, Haberdashers, Vinters and Brewers
This dates mostly from the restoration of 1972 and tradition says that these Companies used St Katharine Cree for a time after the Great Fire of London of 1666, whilst their own Guild Churches were being rebuilt. 
The church is a Grade I listed building.
By the south wall of St Katharine's is a memorial to HMT Lancastria, a troopship lost at sea during the Second World War in 1940. It includes a model of the ship and the ship's bell.
St Katharine's has a ring of six bells. Lester and Pack of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast five of them including the treble bell in 1754. Thomas II Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the tenor bell in 1842. The church clock has a bell, also cast by Lester and Pack in 1754. In the summer of 2007 they were rung for the first time since 1880. An appeal to raise £60,000 to restore the bells to full ringing order was launched in November 2007, and he project was completed in 2009. It is the only tower in the City where the bells are rung from a ground floor ringing chamber.
Today St Katharine's is a guild church and has no parish, but chose some years ago to dedicate its ministry to the worlds of finance, commerce and industry.
St Katharine Cree