The church stands on a steep little hill at the W end of the village street; immediately to the S of it are a farm and the Manor House. To the E is the village pond and a pub. The church has a chancel, nave and W tower and, approached by the path from the N, it has the appearance of a Gothic village church, but on the S side is a Romanesque doorway and inside is a chancel arch with chevrons.

Restorations in 1821 and 1872-4 (Pevsner and Neave 1995, 628) may account for the various reset stones with star patterns, the two corbels reused on the 13th-century N doorway, and for additions to the S doorway. The font was considered to be 13th-century but was recorded.

The various land-holders are named here in order to show that many individuals were active in North Dalton. Before the Conquest, ‘Turgot the lageman of Lincoln’ held one manor of 15 carucates here (VCH II, 145, 241); afterwards, Robert de Todeni had it, and Berenger his son, had it of him (VCH, II, 160).

Also before the Conquest, Norman and Orm and Archil had 3 manors totalling about 8 carucates; at the time of Domesday survey, Nigel [Fossard] rented land to 3 men here (VCH, II, 226, 292). There were socmen. The count of Mortain had 8, or 6, carucates, the king 3, and Robert Todeni 22 (VCH, II, 321).

As noted in Domesday Book: ‘A priest is there, and a church’ (VCH, II, 241).

Morris (1919, 136) noted that the church was built anew in Early English style, with the chancel arch and the S doorway ‘retained’. He also claimed that there are traces of ‘dedication crosses’ on the E wall of the chancel, perhaps he meant the 5-star pattern stones, which he did not otherwise describe.

S doorway: This is not the entrance currently used. It would seem that quite early in the 13th century the nave N doorway was inserted or updated and became the preferred entrance. The priest’s doorway in the chancel is of similar date. This change could perhaps be due to the first building being dependent on one patron based in the farm to the S, but later the church was, as it were, ‘turned to face the village’ on the N and E. The Domesday survey cited above indicates a large number of small tenants.

Several features of the church's S doorway also occur on the doorway at Lockington. These are: half column in the jambs of the first order; projecting scallops or knops; the third order of the doorway is comparable to a more complicated order on the doorway at Lockington; the leaf form on the R capital recurs. Lockington seems the more complex site, and itself has some similarities to the work at the larger church at Newbald.

Reset blocks: It is difficult to suggest a context for these stones. Perhaps they formed a decorated course on the E wall of the church. It is unclear why there are three patterns. The eight-pointed stars are comparable to the star patterns parallel to the jambs of the chancel arch at Kirkburn.

Font: It is doubtful that this is ‘Norman’ as Pevsner and Neave (1995, 628) describe it, nor even Romanesque. However, it is included as one in a sequence. The font is of an even more elaborate form than that at Lockington.