The church is sited on Old Street, north of the City of London.
It was built to relieve the City church of St Giles-without-Cripplegate, Cripplegate, under the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, an attempt to meet the religious needs of London's burgeoning 18th-century population.
The ancient parish of St Giles lay partly within the City and partly outside its boundaries in Middlesex: under the Commissioners' scheme these two parts were to be separated, with the Middlesex portion becoming a new parish of St Luke's.
Construction began in 1727 and was completed in 1733, when the church was consecrated on 18 October (St Luke's day), and the parish detached from that of St Giles.

The architects were the joint salaried surveyors to the Commission, John James and Nicholas Hawksmoor.
James is thought to have been responsible for the body of the church, and Hawksmoor for the west tower, the flanking staircase wings, and the obelisk spire (a most unusual feature for an Anglican church).
The spire was topped by an unusual weather vane depicting the head of a dragon with a fiery comet-like tail: this was misinterpreted locally as a louse, and by the mid-20th century had gained the church the nickname "lousy St Luke's".

The church stood in the historically marshy Moorfields area, and from an early date (but particularly from the beginning of the 20th century) suffered from problems of subsidence.
The effects of the subsidence remain visible in the distorted shapes of the windows on the north side of the building.
The church is sited on Old Street, north of the City of London. It was built to relieve the City church of St Giles-without-Cripplegate, Cripplegate, under the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, an attempt to meet the religious needs of London's burgeoning 18th-century population. The ancient parish of St Giles lay partly within the City and partly outside its boundaries in Middlesex: under the Commissioners' scheme these two parts were to be separated, with the Middlesex portion becoming a new parish of St Luke's. Construction began in 1727 and was completed in 1733, when the church was consecrated on 18 October (St Luke's day), and the parish detached from that of St Giles.
The architects were the joint salaried surveyors to the Commission, John James and Nicholas Hawksmoor. James is thought to have been responsible for the body of the church, and Hawksmoor for the west tower, the flanking staircase wings, and the obelisk spire (a most unusual feature for an Anglican church). The spire was topped by an unusual weather vane depicting the head of a dragon with a fiery comet-like tail: this was misinterpreted locally as a louse, and by the mid-20th century had gained the church the nickname "lousy St Luke's".
The church stood in the historically marshy Moorfields area, and from an early date (but particularly from the beginning of the 20th century) suffered from problems of subsidence. The effects of the subsidence remain visible in the distorted shapes of the windows on the north side of the building.
St Luke Old Street