A church of this dedication is first recorded on this site in 1290, serving lay workers at Bermondsey Abbey.

The design of that building is not known, but in 1680 the church was demolished and rebuilt, retaining the fifteenth century late medieval tower with a gothic window and arches.

[7] The church is now the oldest building in the locality, and the medieval arches are still visible inside the tower behind the organ (not normally accessible to the public).

It contains a number of listed monuments, mostly tombs, notably that of the ancestors of Charles Rolls, aviation pioneer and co-founder of Rolls-Royce.

An inventory of the church ornaments and vestments was made in 1553, including "a painted cloth to hang before the Rood in Lent."

A record was made of items sold during the Reformation, including "an old cope of red silk with roses of silver and gilt", the painting of Biblical verses in the church, and the renewal of the timber porch.