The village of Littleton is located to the NW of Winchester. The church is faced in flint with stone dressings and has red tile roofs. It comprises a chancel, nave, W gallery, N aisle and S porch. There are twinned bell openings in the W gable. The vestry occupies the E bay of the N aisle, alongside the chancel. Although the church is thought to have Anglo-Saxon origins, it does not retain fabric from before c.1200. The earliest elements are the Purbeck marble font and the jambs of the largely rebuilt chancel arch, which have roll mouldings.

The Domesday Survey of 1086 records that land in Littleton was held by Hugh de Port. No church was mentioned. However, Littleton is thought to have been one of nine churches recorded under Chilcomb, in the hands of the Bishop of Winchester. It was granted by Bishop Henry of Blois to the Priory of St Swithun, Winchester.

The N aisle, with the vestry at its E end, was added in 1885-86 by T. E. Williams. The gallery was erected in 1994.

Around 1910 the dedication of the church reverted to St Catherine (having been St Mary Magdalene).

It has been suggested that the low, narrow proportions of the church indicate Anglo-Saxon origins (Bullen et al., 2010, 381).

Rows of semi-circles may also be seen on the Purbeck marble font in Colemore church, and zigzag at Kingsclere.