[2] The village name is derived from the Old English for 'Trout Homestead' for Fornham with the addition of the dedication to Saint Genevieve.

[3] The Domesday Book records that the population of Fornham St Genevieve in 1086 was 30 households.

Robert Whitehand Earl of Leicester put up his final stand against the forces of Henry II near the church, and was subsequently captured and taken prisoner.

The parish church was constructed around the 14th century from rubble flint, and included at least one memorial to the Tyldesley family.

It was accidentally burned down on 19 May 1775, reputedly owing to the negligence of a man shooting jack daws that had lodged in the steeple.