It is one of the churches for the Tromøy parish which is part of the Arendal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

The white, stone church was built around the year 1150 using plans drawn up by an unknown architect.

[5] The church stands between Hove and Brekka, on the outer shore of the island of Tromøy.

The church was used as a landmark for navigation in the Skagerrak because it was an easily recognizable element in the outline of the coast seen by sailors.

It is marked on all nautical charts, and until 1940 the National Office for Lighthouses and Coastal Safety (Statens fyr- og merkevesen) was responsible for painting the church's south walls white.

[7] Most likely, Tromøy Church originally had a rectangular layout that concluded with an apse facing east.

[12] The wooden chancel screen displays the monogram of King Frederick V, flanked by lions and angels; it was carved by Ole Nilsen Weierholt.

It is a model of a frigate from Copenhagen, the East Indies ship Dronningen av Danmark (Queen of Denmark).

[12] The church has a reworked Romanesque portal with a pair of grotesques on the wall, one on each side.

A tale says that the grotesques represent two severed heads that were bricked into the wall, belonging to two thieves that stole the church's silver and were then captured and executed.