The Norman manorial owner after the Conquest gave the churchlands and tithes payable across the privately held land (the bulk, which did not form wooded or meadowland common or unproductive waste) to the monks of the parish to Merton Priory: during the reign of Henry I (1100–1135), Gilbert the Norman, High Sheriff of Surrey, gave the advowson of Kingston - the right to appoint the incumbent priest of a church - together with four young chapelries [n 1] to Merton Priory.

[1] Gilbert died in 1125, which demonstrates a functional chapelry, whether or not of stone, at Thames Ditton around 1120, with higher levels of ecclesiastical control by Kingston Church and Merton Priory.

In any event the earliest stonework of the church appears to English Heritage to date to the 12th century.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the advowson and rectory of St Nicholas passed into private hands as from 1538.

As reflected by these materials and the degree of dressing, the building has undergone a great many changes, and very little of the original structure is visible.