Caton church, in the settlement of Brookhouse, is typical for North Lancashire in that the only medieval part of its structure is the Perpendicular west tower; the rest is by E. G. Paley, 1865-7. Formerly in the porch door, the remants of a Romanesque portal have been built into the exterior west wall of the north aisle.

Caton is mentioned in Domesday with a taxable value of 43 geld units. There was a church mentioned here by 1230, when the local lord renounced its patronage. Caton does not appear in the 1298 Taxatio, so may have been valued under 2 marks and appears to have been a very minor chapel. In 1430 the ordination of the vicarage in Lancaster stipulated that a curate was to be provided for Caton. The benefice was declared a vicarage in 1867.

The doorway is significant as it is the only tympanum, figurative or otherwise, in Lancashire. It attests to a church of some importance, but it is a shame that the Victorian rebuilding of the church mounted it in such an exposed position as it is beginning to seriously degrade.

The doorway is filled in with other medieval work, most obviously grave slabs with cusped crosses, and a piece of dogtoothed ornament, but nothing noticeably Romanesque.