The village of Caynham lies 2.5 miles SE of Ludlow in Shropshire. The church of St Mary has a 19thc nave and N aisle with a late 12thc S doorway. There is a 19thc chancel with a late 12th-early 13thc chancel arch. The W tower is late 12th-early 13thc and there is an early 13thc pointed W doorway. 12thc decoration is found above a window on the S nave wall.

Caynham was held by Earl Morcar in 1066, and by Ralph de Mortimer from Earl Roger of Shrewsbury. It was assessed at 8 hides, 4 of which were in demesne. Of the remaining 4 hides, 3 were held from Ralph by Robert de Vessey and one by Walter. There is no mention of a church in the Domesday Survey, but the manor had a mill and enough woodland for fattening 200 pigs. The first documented incumbent of Caynham is Achelard of Caynham, who died during the reign of Henry II. The next recorded incumbent, according to a list in the church, is Sir John de Kayham in 1279.

Caynham provides a good example of a church where there is virtually no early documented history and much later modification and restoration, but where Romanesque material nevertheless survives.