It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Kendal, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the diocese of Carlisle.

[2] The authors of the Buildings of England series describe it as "an almost perfect example of a plain Gothic church of that date, honest and unpretentious".

[3] It resulted from a bequest made by John Barwick, dean of St Paul's Cathedral, who died in 1664, to provide a burial place in the village of his birth, rather than the dead having to be carried across the tidal estuary of the river Kent for burial at St Michael's Church in Beetham.

[3][4] There had previously been a church in the village dedicated to Saint Mary, but this was ruined in the Civil War.

John Barwick's brother, Peter, who was physician to Charles II, successfully petitioned the Bishop of Chester for a new church and a burial ground.

[4] St Paul's is constructed in stone rubble with ashlar dressings and a slate roof.

Its plan consists of a nave and a chancel in a single chamber, a south porch and a north vestry, and a west tower.

The south porch is gabled, is surmounted by a ball finial, and leads to a round-headed doorway into the church.

Another monument is to a child who died aged two years, and includes a while marble effigy of a baby.