The church is dedicated to Holy Trinity and is built in the Early English style. In 1895 the parish was owned by the Duke of Bedford who was the sole landowner and he built some cottages here during the middle of the 19th century to replace some older ones.

Inside the church there is a plaque commemorating James Napier who was a Scottish fishmonger and sold his fish to the old abbeys in the area. Another plaque is to John Russell a local farmer who was asked if he could help a Spanish princess who had been rescued from a shipwreck off of Weymouth because it was known that he had some knowledge of different languages. He escorted her to the court of Henry VII who accepted her and when Henry VIII became king he became Lord Russell and the founder of the fortunes of the House of Bedford.

Puncknowle
A mile north is Puncknowle which is also a coastal parish and is atop a steep rocky hill which has been a landmark for seamen for centuries and the church of St Mary is also in the Early English style except for the short tower and north wall, as this building has been largely rebuilt at various times during the 19th century and both the font and the tower are probably Norman. At nearby Bexington thre was a coastguard station.

In the church here there are some memorials to the Napiers. Alward a Saxon held the manor here at the time of the Domesday Survey and after the battle at Hastings it was passed to Hugh, Son of Grip, the 15th century saw eight families owning the manor and the Napiers were among them and they sold it in 1710, to William Clutterbuck who was a Devonshire sea captain.

It is here that Colonel Shrapnel lived and he invented the shell which bears his name, that like the Mills Grenade send out sharp pieces of metal in all directions when fired and is one of the most feared weapons of any soldier.