Compton is a village in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, immediately SW of the city. It lies on the chalk at the N edge of the Hampshire Basin, and immediately W of the M3. The church is on the northern edge of the village and is a partly rendered flint building consisting of a 12thc nave with a N porch and a W bell turret to which new nave and chancel both wider and extending furter to E and W were added in 1904-05 by J B Colson and G H Kitchin. A new N porch was added at the same time, protecting an elaborate 12thc. doorway, while the original S doorway was reset in the S wall of the new nave and now gives access to a modern extension housing lavatories and a flower room. The view from the NE shown here essentially shows the original church. There are 12thc lancets on the N side of the original nave and chancel. Romanesque features described here are the N abnd S doorways and the font.

The manor of Chilcomb was given by King Edward the Elder in 908 to the church of Winchester included land in Compton, which was included in the Domesday Survey under Chilcomb. This manor was conformed to the prior and monks of St Swithun in 1205, and when the Priory was dissolved it passed to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester Cathedral. A restoration took place c.1878 costing £750, when it was speculated that the gellery and pews might be removed (Hampshire Advertiser), but the main restoration was in 1904-05 by J B Colson and G H Kitchin as noted above

Both doorways are unusually tall and narrow, but the capital forms and the point-to-point chevron and lozenges of the main (N) dooorway indicate a date after the middle of the 12thc. Wilkinson (2018) dates the original church c.1155, without giving any justification, and the VCH suggests c.1160 for the N doorway because of the 'advanced detail' of its capitals. The Purbeck font is intriguing. The recessed shields on the N doorway capitals may be a development of the cusped capitals seen at Martyr Worthy. A similar Purbeck font with a non-arcaded tall, square bowl survives at West Hoathly (Sussex)