The scattered village of Martyr Worthy is located in the Itchen valley, NE of Winchester and W of Alresford. The church comprises an unaisled nave with a W bell turret, a N vestry, and an apsidal chancel. The N and S doorways are decorated with Romanesque sculpture.

Martyr Worthy is one of several neighbouring villages named ‘Worthy’. They may, at one time, have been undifferentiated. ‘Land at Worthy’, thought to be Martyr Worthy, was granted by King Egbert to the monastery of St Peter and St Paul, Winchester, in 825. Although Martyr Worthy was not specifically mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, Worthy (Ordie) was held by St Peter and St Swithin, Winchester, and had a church. Ownership by the Cathedral Priory was confirmed in 1205 and 1285 and continued until the Dissolution.

In 1837 a S porch was removed. The church was restored in 1865 by the Winchester-based architect John Colson, who also added a neo-Norman apsidal chancel. The former chancel was absorbed into the nave. The bell turret dates from 1871. A year later the chancel was redecorated in colour: the lettering of the Ten Commandments over the chancel arch may date from that time. A W gallery was removed in 1911 and a N vestry added in 1913.

Dating of the N and S doorways of Martyr Worthy has vacillated between 1140-50 and, rather vaguely, ‘late Norman’.

In 1908 the VCH dated the church to 1140-50 and considered the N and S doorways to be ‘original’ work. It suggested that the N doorway, being more elaborate in the opinion of the author, was originally the main entrance. The church guidebook followed the VCH in dating the church to 1140-50, but placed the N and S doorways in the late 12thc. The author was perhaps influenced by Pevsner & Lloyd, who considered the nave and its doorways to be ‘Late Norman’ (Pevsner & Lloyd 1967, 331). The revised edition of The Buildings of England by Bullen et al. disagreed with this, dating the nave and its doorways to c.1140 (Bullen et al. 2010, 391). Pevsner’s opinion may have resulted from a belief that hollow chamfers signified a late 12thc date. However, all other features of the doorways, which are clearly contemporaneous, point to a date in the mid-12thc.

The capitals may be compared with those of the N doorway at Compton (Hants), which have similar cusps and enriched abaci, and with the S doorway of Droxford, which has overlapping pointed leaves similar to these.