Holton is a village 2½ miles SW of Wincanton in the South Somerset district, on the S side of the present A303 trunk road, whose former alignment ran through the village. The church stands in the village centre and dates from the 14thc and later. It is built of local stone rubble with Cary stone ashlar dressings, and has a 3-cell plan with a 2-bay chancel, a 2-bay nave with a S porch, a N aisle with a vestry extension, and a W tower. The only Romanesque feature is the font.

Land in Holton was given to the thegn Byrnsige by King Edgar between 959 and 975, and he gave the land to Glastonbury Abbey. By 1066 it was held by Alnoth, when it was assessed at 2 hides, and by 1086 it had passed to Humphrey the Chamberlain. In addition to the ploughland it included 6 acres of meadow and 6 acres of woodland. Glastonbury had regained the overlordship by 1189. The tenancy was held by Henry Newmarch in 1189, and on his death in 1198 it passed to his sons William and James. On James’s death in 1216 it passed to his daughter Hawise, married first to John de Boteret then to Nicholas de Moeles, who was in possession by 1234. He was followed by his son Roger (d.1295), and the manor continued in this family until the death of John de Moeles in 1310. Details of the later ownership of the manor may be found in VCH. The church was described as a chapel in 1306, but was known as a rectory from the following year. The dedication to St Nicholas is known from 1505.

The font is not mentioned in Pevsner (1958), in Orbach's revision it is described as a 'massive C11-C12 tub, tapered beneath a ring'. The List Description calls it a plain tub type of font, possibly 12thc.