The partly 11th-century cruciform building, set in an almost deserted village in a loop of the River Arun, is mostly unrestored and stands on an ancient earthwork which has pre-Christian origins.

The building has architectural features and internal fittings spanning hundreds of years, including some very old stained glass and wall paintings, although there are few memorials compared with other Sussex churches of a similar age.

Road access between the two places requires an 8-mile (13 km) drive around Arundel Park and down a long dead-end track from Houghton.

[8] This represents a very early example by Sussex standards, dating from a period when stained glasswork was moving from the grisaille style and the basic Tree of Jesse towards Biblical figures.

[9][12] The remains of a contemporary wall painting are visible above it,[6][12] and on each side there is a recess—the left-hand one of which has a carving of a human hand on its corbel.

[9][11] The wall paintings, depicting flowers and foliage, are said to have inspired the 16th-century local artist Lambert Barnard in his designs for the vaults at nearby Boxgrove Priory and Chichester Cathedral.

[21] In late 2007 two amateur archaeologists on an ecclesiastical archaeology course at the University of Sussex unexpectedly found an ancient document giving the dedication of the church, which had been unknown since the English Reformation or before.

[22] Tony and Lesley Voice were examining documents at The National Archives in Kew, London, when they found a piece of vellum stuck to the back of one.

It was a letter written by the Bishop of Chichester Stephen Bersted to King Edward I in 1275, indicating that the church was dedicated to Mary the Virgin.

[22] Other discoveries made at the same time included the involvement of William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel in the medieval life of the church.

[9] The main structural features are a simple timber roof with exposed beams[13] and a more intricately decorated chancel arch of the early 14th century,[11] built of clunch.

[9] The oldest fixture is a "tub-like"[11] stone font with a lead bowl, dating from between 1200 and 1250 and standing at the west end of the church.