St. Barnabas’ Church was constructed at the request of the earliest residents of the newly built Lenton Abbey housing estate[2] and was designed by the architect Thomas Cecil Howitt. At the start of construction, a box containing coins, copies of the plans and Nottingham newspapers of the day were placed under the foundation stone. It was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Henry Mosley the Bishop of Southwell on 25 July 1938. Initially it was a chapel of ease to Holy Trinity Church, Lenton, but on 25 July 1955 it became a parish in its own right.
From 1977, the vicar of St. Mary's Church, Wollaton Park had responsibility for St. Barnabas’ parish, but now the vicar of Christ Church, Chilwell has custody of the parish.