The northern half of the cruciform Norman church remains, although much rebuilt; the E window of the N transept retains its original jambs and sill, and inside arch. The font is the only Romanesque sculptural feature.

Laneast was founded as a chapelry by the Augustinian Priory of Launceston and St Stephens-by Launceston, the original priory church, remained its mother church until the Reformation, as it did of many other churches in and around Launceston.

Sedding suggested that the missing corner head could have been due to a flaw in the stone or an accident by the mason; and that perhaps the block of stone had been so damaged in transport that he could not make the font square. Certainly the situation of the village would have made the delivery of such a stone extremely difficult, just as it made burial of the dead a grim chore for the villagers, who were until 1436 compelled to use the cemetery of St Stevens-by-Launceston.