During the medieval period it was a place of pilgrimage to a shrine of St Theobald; it remained in use until a new church was built in the 19th century.

[2] The dedication of the church was originally to the Assumption of Saint Mary the Virgin; it has later been regarded as dedicated to St Theobald,[3] as described in the History of Norfolk, published by Charles Parkin in the 18th century: "In this church was a famous image of St Theobald, commonly called St Tebbald of Hobbies; it was much frequented for its many pretended miracles, so that pilgrimages used to be made to it.... [I]n 1507 Thomas Wood of Cowteshale gave legacies to the gild of the Virgin Mary, in the church of the Assumption of the Virgin at Hobbies, and to paint the new tabernacle of St Theobald there, and this saint being so famous, made some mistake the dedication of the church, and suppose it to have been dedicated to St Theobald, which is not so.

In the 13th century the chancel was extended and a south transept was added, to house an image of St Theobald.

[1][3] Associated with the church was the Hospital of St Mary, for pilgrims to the church, founded about 1235 by Sir Peter de Alto Bosco, or Hautbois, who possessed half of the manor of Great Hautbois.

The chancel of St Theobald's was converted into a mortuary chapel, and the rest of the building was left as a ruin; the graveyard remained in use.