[2] The church is dedicated to St. Germanus, a bishop of Auxerre in Late Antique Gaul who is supposed to have landed in the neighbourhood when he came to Britain to suppress the Pelagian heresy in about 429.

[3] It is believed that a church has existed on the site since Norman times, owing to the discovery of a carved tympanum from that period, now re-set into the west wall of the south aisle.

[2] The church underwent restoration in 1848,[6] and a chapel of ease, St Andrew's, was opened in 1878 to serve the village of Cawsand.

The work was carried out to the designs and under the direction of Messrs. Hine and Odgers of Plymouth, and it was during this restoration that the Norman tympanum was discovered.

The church reopened on 22 April 1885 when a crowded service was held, which included a sermon read by the Bishop of Truro, George Wilkinson.