Holy Cross was the parish church of the medieval village of Basildon, and remained the centre of what was largely an agricultural settlement until the mid 20th century. When Basildon was developed as a New Town following WWII, the area around Holy Cross became surrounded by modern housing. The nave of the church is 14th centruy. The south porch was added in the mid-15th century and the tower built c.1500. The chancel was rebuilt in 1597. The north wall of the nave was rebuilt in 1702, when other repairs were also carried out. The church was restored in 1888 by Joseph Peacock The south door is 14th century and is covered by a fine restored 15th century timber porch. The porch has two sets of four-light openings with moulded mullions on either side and heavily cusped barge boarding. The outer doorway is four-centred and set within a square frame; the inner part of the porch is supported on a heavy, carved beam with curved braces. In the spandrels are a collared bear on a ragged staff, a rosette and a dragon with a forked tongue. The porch now stands on dwarf stone walls, but formerly had weatherboarding on the lower part.