The name Cheriton is derived from Saxon words meaning �the enclosure (or village) with a church�. It is thus clear that there was a church next to the Saxon Manor, near or on the site of the present one, before the Norman Conquest of 1066.

With only one exception, the Gatehouse family supplied all the incumbents between 1799 and 1933.

Thomas Gatehouse served for 40 years until 1863. Thomas Ernest Gatehouse was the last incumbent from this family and he served for 40 years until 1933. The Tower Screen is a memorial to John Farwell Gatehouse and William Robert Gatehouse.

The church has been much restructured on more than one occasion. It was restored and enlarged in 1878 at a cost of £830. The interior was faced with ashlar during this restoration.

The building consists of chancel and organ chamber which, according to Kelly�s Directory of 1910, were erected in 1886. The nave is of three bays and a north aisle is in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles.

The Chancel is markedly offset from the nave. It has been suggested that this feature is symbolic, representing the reclining head of Christ on the cross. The chancel at nearby Cucklington is similarly built.

The western embattled tower is early Gothic having four pinnacles and corner sculptures known in Somerset as hunky punks. These features, which resemble grotesques sitting on their hunkers are found on a number of the traditional Somerset towers and are the trademark of medieval masons.

The Tower Screen is a memorial to John Farwell Gatehouse and William Robert Gatehouse (see Incumbents) and is modelled on the Chancel Screen.

The Jacobean Pulpit is dated 1633. The panels have squat blank arches and there is a frieze of vine foliage.

The Norman Font is bucket shaped in stone. It is thought that it might have originally been placed in a stream or spring as it has a filled-in section which could have been a Slip launder. The font cover, with its ogee shaped ribs, is Jacobean.

The oak Reredos and side panelling is a memorial of the Hardy family.

The Organ was built by Norman and Beard and installed in 1915. It is a very fine instument but curiously was originally placed with the organist sitting in the vestry. In 1991 the organ was dismantled for overhaul and rebuilt in its present position.

The tower contains five bells. The tenor weighing 11cwt and bears the date 1651 while the treble was added in 1907 as a memorial to the Rev. TJ Gatehouse.

With only one exception, the Gatehouse family supplied all the incumbents between 1799 and 1933.

Four old bell clappers are displayed in the vestry.

The Registers date from 1558. There is a vestry account book of 1690-1693.