Along with Whitwell (St Radegund), which has 12thc fabric, Gatcombe was founded as a chapel by the de Estur family. Whitwell was endowed so that the rector of Gatcombe should say Mass there and maintain the chancel (Hockey 1982, 6), the implication being that Whitwell was founded after Gatcombe and that Gatcombe was a foundation of the 12thc or earlier. A detached portion of Carisbrooke parish to the south of Gatcombe parish and small detached strips of land belonging to Gatcombe to the north of the parish within Carisbrooke parish are depicted on the six-inch Ordnance Survey map of the 1860s. This evidence strongly suggests that Gatcombe originated as a daughter church of Carisbrooke.