The church was originally cruciform in the 12thc., but only the S transept and the S doorway retain features from this period. The church has a 13thc. W tower, 14thc. nave and 16thc. N aisle. An inscription on the exterior S wall by the porch states that the church was rebuilt in 1698. The porch is 19thc. and was probably built at the time of the 1872 restoration.

Woolfardisworthy is listed under 'Lands of the King's Thanes' in DS. Only the pre-Conquest holder of the manor, Godric, is named in the entry for Woolfardisworthy, but DS suggests that Colwyn, the reeve of Queen Edith, held the manor.

According to the church guide Holy Trinity was originally a chapelry of Hartland Abbey, and was granted to the Abbey by Hugh Peverell during the reign of Richard I.

The carving on the doorway is very close in style and execution to doorways at Buckland Brewer, Parkham and Shebbear. There are also similar doorways at Morwenstowe and Kilkhampton (Cornwall). A fragment of label, of exactly the same type as described above is reset into the porch at Molland, suggesting that a similar doorway may once have existed there.