It has served the rural parish, northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea and next to the River Adur, since the 11th century.

English Heritage has listed the church at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.

The parish of Coombes existed, with the name Cumbe,[1] at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, when it supported two manors and their associated settlements.

[2] The settlements, high on the South Downs above the River Adur's floodplain, may have had their origins in a pair of Saxon-era estates.

[2] Coombes parish church, whose original dedication has now been lost[2][3] (although it has been attributed to John the Baptist),[4] existed at the time of the Domesday Book.

At that time it was a simple flint building in three parts: chancel, nave and a tower at the west end.

[3][5] The building was added to and altered several times over the next few centuries in a manner that Ian Nairn described as a "century-by-century accretion of piety".

[1] Flint rubble masonry, relieved by some dressings of ashlar, forms the walls.

The roof is of Horsham Stone slates,[1][6] in common with many historic Sussex buildings.