The church was extensively restored in 1874-75, by Hopkins and Ewan Christian (Pevsner). The older parts are of sandstone rubble. It comprises a nave with a 12thc. N wall and a modern S aisle of four bays, a rebuilt 14thc. chancel, a later medieval W tower and a timber porch on stone foundations. There are a plain blocked doorway and a plain round-headed window on the N side of the nave. Romanesque sculpture is found in the reset S doorway.

Norton-by-Kempsey seems always to have formed part of the manor of Kempsey, and the church or chapel was dependent on Kempsey church. Around 1182, William de Marisco was holding half a hide of land in Norton, which he had received from Bishop Simon (1125-50).