The church consists of a nave, a large chancel, and a tower surmounted by a lower spire at the W end. The chancel was rebuilt in the 14thc. The W tower dates to the 13thc. The church was restored in 1855 and 1866.

The Romanesque features are the S doorway, the chancel arch, and two nave windows.

At the time of the Domesday Survey, Sandiacre was held under the king by Toli, a royal thegn, with a church and a priest on the manor. c.1280 the church or rectory was given by Bishop Longespee of Lichfield to a special prebend of his cathedral; from 1342 to 1347 the bishop held this prebendary. The new chancel may have been added at that period or later in the 14thc (Hartwell 2016, 577-79).

Remarkably rich later Romanesque sculpture is dated by Cox to c. 1160. He also suggested that the 12thc tomb may have marked the grave of the rebuilder of this church in the Norman period. The N abacus ornament on the chancel arch is paralleled in a more simple form at Breadsall.