The church is located in the hamlet of Ellerburn, to the north of Thornton-le-Dale, and is an ancient structure that dates back to Saxon times and has been renovated twice, extensively in 1904.

[8] The reason for building the church on the site is not obvious, as parishioners would have had to travel in from other surrounding villages,[9] although an 1835 listing describes the population as being 192.

[2] Also discovered during the renovations was a large stone that predated the Reformation (possibly even as far back as the ninth century), which the vicar set upon some trestles to use as a Communion table.

[15] It was later determined by a manorial court that stones used in the rebuilding of the church in 1905, had been taken from a nearby quarry without permission, with the blame falling upon the incumbent vicar.

[17] One of the monuments in the graveyard is a large, red granite edifice with a stone finial, which Jeffery describes as a "...hideous obelisk, erected in the worst of taste..."[18] It is dedicated to three members of the Dobson family who were from Ellerburn.