[1] The church was mentioned in the Domesday Monachorum, compiled in the time of Lanfranc who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089.

[2][3][4] It was a meeting place of the official courts of the Barons of the Cinque Ports; they met in an addition to the south side of the nave, built in the 14th century.

The last such meeting held here took place in 1851, presided over by the Duke of Wellington who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

[2] The building was severely damaged by German artillery firing across the English Channel during the Second World War.

Dover Borough Council purchased the church and churchyard in 1970 and both have been used as an open public space since then.