The present building dates from the 14th century and was restored during the Victorian era, but Christian worship on the site has a much longer history.

Ardingly developed as a settlement during the Saxon era, when a forest clearing (leah in Old English) was created on a piece of high ground near a tributary of the River Ouse, which runs across this part of the Weald.

[1][2][3] The area cleared for settlement included a hill 398 feet (121 m) high,[3] and the Normans founded a church on this site in the 11th century.

(It is possible, although not confirmed, that this replaced an earlier church on the same site, which would have been founded by Saxon or pre-Saxon pig-farmers or ironworkers who travelled through the area.

By the middle of the 14th century, the village had developed a successful wool trade, and the new wealth available led to the construction of a new church on the same site.

[10] Unusually for the area, it lacks a spire; this may be because it was used as a defensive structure against possible French invaders, or because its top was used as a fire-beacon to warn locals of invasion.

[2][11][12] Inside the tower, and contemporary with it, an oak staircase carved from large blocks of wood rises from the north wall.

[3][8][9] The English Reformation of the 1530s led to Henry VIII assuming control of all property held by England's monasteries and priories.

Around this time, the Lydell family—owners of the Wakehurst Place estate and patrons of the church—built a burial vault in the church and turned the south aisle into their private chapel.

[16][17] Restoration and refitting of medieval churches was commonplace in the Victorian era, and two rounds of changes were made to the structure and internal fittings: first in 1853, with some advice from Sir George Gilbert Scott,[18] and again in 1887.

[20] The rood screen was later moved again to cover the arch inside the tower,[3] and the rector bought the church its first proper organ, built by a Brighton-based firm for £133 (£16,000 in 2025).

[19][21] This was in turn replaced with a new organ, which cost £1,100 (£155,000 in 2025),[21] in 1887, during the main period of restoration ; the church was closed for about a year while Benjamin Ingelow and Richard Herbert Carpenter added a vestry, north aisle with 50 seats, pulpit and lectern, and carried out structural repairs.

[3][8] Additions in the 20th century started with the liturgical East window, a memorial to a local man who was prominent in the Wealden iron industry.