Adderley is an agricultural village in the NE of Shropshire, and one of the largest parishes in the county. The village is slightly over 3 miles N of Market Drayton. The village extends along the A 529 from Market Drayton to Audlem (Cheshire) with the church at the northern end. The church is mainly of 1801, and is cruciform in plan with a 17thc N transept and an 18thc. tower. The only Romanesque feature is the late 11thc. to early 12thc. font which is located to the to left of the S doorway. The chancel and transepts are in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust; the rest being in use by the parish.

At the time of the Domesday Survey, Adderley, along with Shavington, Spoonley and Calverhall, were held by Nigel, a clerk and physician, of Earl Roger de Montgomery. On Nigel's death Earl Roger took over his estates, but they were later forfeited to the crown. Later, Henry I gave Adderley to Alan de Dunstanvill.

The inscription on the font: 'Hic male primus homo fruitur cum coniuge pomo' is translated in Pevsner as 'Here wickedly the first man enjoyed the apple with his wife' (Newman et al 2006, 99). Pevsner and Eyton comment on the oddity of the inscription in relation to a font (Eyton 1860, 5-6).