Aldhelm is named as founder around 676, though the abbot table lists a different founder, and the article gives no architect. The Normans rebuilt the church, substantially complete by 1180, and the south porch has Romanesque sculpture. The spire stood 431 feet (131 m) high until it and its tower collapsed in a storm around 1500, destroying much of the east end. The west tower fell around 1550 and took the three westernmost nave bays. Less than half the original building survives.
The abbey closed at the Dissolution in 1539. William Stumpe bought it and filled the buildings with cloth looms, and in 1541 Thomas Cranmer licensed the church as the parish church. Civil War bullet damage is still visible.
It is a Church of England parish church, Grade I listed since 1949.
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