The church was built in 1640, on the site of an earlier medieval church.[2] Although it served only a small community, the church was built on the orders of Archbishop William Laud.[3] He was an autocratic clergyman and sought to reduce the influence of Puritans, after which Laudianism is named.[4]
The church was dedicated to St Blaize,[citation needed] and served as a chapelry of Boyton, some 11 miles (18 km) to the south-east in Wiltshire,[5] both Rodden and Boyton being estates of the Giffard family in the 13th century.[6] The date this arrangement ended, and Rodden became a separate parish, is unclear. It is described as a chapelry in a correction note to the 1811 Census[7] but the 1831 Census Abstract states the separation occurred in 1784.[8]John Collinson, published in 1791, has Rodden as a chapelry of Boyton.[6] Another source gives the creation date of Rodden ecclesiastical parish as 1802.[9]
The stone building has a three-baynave and one-bay chancel with tile roofs. The west tower is supported by diagonal buttresses.[1] The majority of the interior dates from its restoration in the 19th century, but it retains its 18th-century pulpit.[1]
Present day
The church, in spite of its isolated location, continues to have services once or twice a month.[13]
