Church House follows closely the tradition and service established in 1792 when Messrs. Batten & Co, Private Bankers, was formed by Edward Batten, a West Country landowner and solicitor. He was the senior of three partners and was subsequently joined by his son John Batten in 1829.

The bank flourished through a succession of mergers and acquisitions in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but was adversely affected by casualties among the Batten family in the First World War, leading to its being swallowed up in 1918 by what eventually became the Westminster Bank.

A hiatus continued until Lt.Colonel Bill Batten - grandfather of David, the current Chairman - assumed control of the legal practice again in 1924. This was steadily expanded until the bank was refounded in 1978 to service the needs of clients – and, in particular, families - which the firm had continued to look after from its earliest days.

The bank grew steadily, over the years adding investment management, tax services and trust administration to its offering until early 2010 when an offer was made, for the banking part of the business only, by Virgin Money Holdings (UK) Ltd.  The shareholders accepted, recognising that the introduction of significant new capital would allow the bank to grow more quickly and offer broader services to its clients.  All the remaining parts of the business remain independent, undisturbed and under substantially the same shareholder ownership.  By virtue of the continuity of the bank's personnel and its location, the investment management and tax and trust firms can remain closely affiliated to their former bank parent.