The church stands on the high ground of Childerditch with broad views across the Thames valley, built on the site of its predecessor, which had the same dedication. The first known reference to the old building was in 1387–8, when Coggeshall Abbey paid a tiler for tiling the new chancel. In 1858 the church was a ruin, comprising a nave of flint rubble, thought to date from the 12th century, chancel, timber belfry, and south porch. In 1869, the old church was demolished and replaced by a new one built of Kentish rag and Bath stone. Childerditch was always a scarcely populated parish of scattered farms and cottages, and ceased to exist as a parish in 1934.