Catherington was not mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. The manor of Catherington or Five Heads was probably the place named Ceptune, which formed part of Chalton from 1098 until 1102, thereafter belonging to the honour of Arundel. The manor belonged to the Earls of Arundel when the bulk of the church was built, in the late 12thc and early 13thc. The advowson was held by the prioress and convent of Nuneaton from 1292 until the Dissolution.
The architect Edmund Ferrey oversaw a campaign of extensive repair and restoration in 1883, when a wall-painting of St Michael was uncovered on the N aisle wall and fragments of a Purbeck stone churchyard cross were unearthed in various places. At the time it was reported: ‘ . . . the handsome Norman piers with their moulded bases and enriched capitals and arches had been shamefully cut to pieces to insert large beams for carrying a most unsightly gallery over each of the aisles . . .’ (Hampshire Telegraph, 6 October 1883, 12). This suggests that the capitals may be more heavily restored than is immediately apparent. Also in 1883, a baptistry, with a new font (now relocated to the W end of nave), was formed under the tower. The old font, reportedly of Portland stone, was clearly not medieval.
The VCH pointed out that the Transitional S doorway, which has stiff-leaf capitals and pointed arches, must have been reset at some time, because its rere-arch would not have fitted beneath the original aisle roofline (VCH 1908, 100). It had been blocked by 1883, when it was opened up and restored (Hampshire Telegraph, 6 October 1883, 12).
Between 1908 and 1911 the dedication of the church changed from St Katherine to All Saints, which was thought to be the original dedication (having been reportedly found in 16thc texts).
