The church has a W tower (c.1400), a late 11thc. nave with a S aisle added c.1200, and a chancel, rebuilt in the late 14thc., which is the same height as the nave and has no entrance arch.

Despite its apparently Anglo-Saxon origins, the church is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey. 'Paling(e)' is recorded in 1199, and the name 'Polynge' occurs for the first time in a document of the early 14thc. By the late 14thc. the site was a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers. When that was suppressed in 1541, the Poling estates were given to the college of Arundel. Post-medieval work includes the construction of the S porch (1830) and extensive restorations (1865). A late 11thc. window shutter, found in situ in 1917, is one of the most interesting features of the church.

This font is included because it may have been a plain Norman tub, which was given its present chamfer and moulding at a later date, probably when an octagonal shaft was first added, in the late medieval period. Johnstone and Nairn have suggested that it is Saxon in origin. The shaft and base now appear to be Victorian.