By tradition, this church was founded in the 900s CE by the Anglo-Saxon Queen Æthelflæd ('Lady of the Mercians' and daughter of Alfred the Great).

[1] Certain sources suggest that the saint to whom it is dedicated, St Alkmund, (the son of Alhred, King of Northumbria (d. c. 800), was first buried in Whitchurch.

In 1403 following his death at the Battle of Shrewsbury, Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur) was temporarily buried in the church.

[5] Towards the end of the 15th century the body of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who had been killed at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, was removed to the church.

His embalmed heart was buried under the porch and his bones lie under his effigy in the Lady Chapel.

It was built by mason William Smith of Tettenhall to the designs of John Barker (1668-1727) of Rowsley.

[4] Further internal alterations were made in 1894 when the organ was moved from the west gallery to its present position on the north of the chancel.

The fourth stage has round-headed belfry openings and on the north and south sides are clock faces dated 1977.

At the west end is a gallery which is supported by a pair of unfluted wooden Doric columns.

Below the gallery is a triptych form war memorial to parish men who died serving in World War I, with mosaic of St Michael in the centre panel, dedicated by the parents of Lieutenant Thomas Chesters Bowler who is among those listed on the outer panels.

At the east end of the south aisle is the Lady Chapel which is entered through an oak screen.

In the south wall of the chapel is the chest tomb of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.

It consists of a recumbent 15th-century praying effigy with dogs at its feet and a 19th-century tomb chest and arch.

Under the gallery is a red and yellow sandstone font dated 1661 with a wooden cover and a hexagonal table made from the sounding board of the former 18th-century pulpit.

[11] In the churchyard is a chest tomb dated 1815 in grey sandstone ashlar to the memory of Ann Loveit.