The original 13th-century chapelry declined and fell into ruins in the 17th century, partly due to damage caused by the English Civil War.

Anglican worship was re-established in a tin tabernacle in 1890 as the former village grew into a suburb of Worthing, and during World War I a permanent church was built.

[7] Until agreement was reached in 1254, there was a long-running dispute between the rector of St Andrew's Church and Sele Priory over the division of the tithes.

[8] A small proportion of tithes were reserved for Sele Priory under arrangements made by Robert le Sauvage in the 12th century.

[1][9] When the priory was dissolved in 1459, the Bishop of Winchester William Waynflete acquired the patronage and made the tithes payable to Magdalen College, Oxford, which he had recently founded.

[12] The villagers' dislike of the rector was also prompted by his "unintelligible preaching", his failure to carry out parochial duties and his prosecution of some parishioners for non-payment of tithes.

[14] By 1677, the church was in such poor structural condition that the Dean of Chichester convened a consistory court with three parishioners and asked them why repairs had not been carried out.

When they explained that it had been ruined during the Civil War, that Reverend Stanley had failed to serve them appropriately and that the parishioners could not afford its upkeep, the court accepted this.

After conflicting accounts were given, the churchwarden eventually admitted to selling it to raise funds for poor people in the parish.

[3][14][15] At the same time, he submitted an estimate for repairs to the church, stating again that the villagers could not afford them and asking for permission to abandon the building and worship at St Andrew's in West Tarring instead.

Durrington village always had two centres of population: the southern one, next to the road to Littlehampton, had declined almost to nothing by 1875, but the part to the north near the church began to grow in the last quarter of the 19th century, stimulated by the success of neighbouring Worthing.

[16] The next rector of St Andrew's planned to replace the tin tabernacle with a permanent church to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Hyde, who had worked on St Botolph's Church, had submitted a design in 1896, but this was rejected in favour of plans by Lacy W. Ridge, who was at the time the Diocesan architect.

Rebuilding started immediately: the remaining parts of the old walls (principally on the south and west sides) were incorporated into the new structure, and despite wartime disruption and shortages enough had been built to allow the church to be opened in 1915.

[21] Durrington's rapid residential growth continued, especially after it became part of the Borough of Worthing in 1929,[17] and the church was extended and thereby completed in 1941 with the construction of a chancel by W.H.

[22] St Symphorian's Church is a flint structure with stone dressings, built in the Early English style.

[24] Residential development in the High Salvington area, north of Durrington and within its parish, encouraged the vicar of St Symphorian's Church to open a mission chapel there at his own expense.

[27] St Symphorian's Church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 11 October 1949;[10] this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest".