Whilst the ‘town’ of Great Ellingham is mentioned in the Domesday Book, there is no mention of a church.  The list of Rectors given by Blomefield begins in 1312.  Presumably there must have been a simple chapel there before that date, but no trace of it has been found in the present structure which has been built in the style of the 14th century.  There is little record of the actual building of the church.  At the beginning of the 14th century the de Ellingham family as prominent in the areas and in the latter half, the Mortimer family.  The chapel on the north side, which now houses the organ, is know as the Mortimer chapel and the Mortimer family paid for its construction.  

The chancel and nave clerestory are built in one piece.  The massive tower is crowned with a wooden spire sheathed in lead.  It is a local tradition that the spire was built as a memorial to the defeat of the Spanish Armada.  The spire leans to the East, the results of three centuries of weather.  It was reclad with lead and extensively repaired in 1980.  The weathercock was rescued from a cupboard and placed on the top again in 1981.  Before it was put up there, and whilst it was still on the ground, the Rector at the time, Revd Derek Elton, encouraged local children to jump over it, so that they could tell their children that they had leapt over the cock on the church spire.

The tower parapet had carved saints at each corner, but only two survive on the West side.  In the tower are six bells, four date from the year 1615 and were cast by William and Alice Brend of Norwich.  The second bell was

Great Ellingham is the nearest large village to Deopham Green (Second World War American Airforce Base).  Many American friends visit Hingham, Deopham Green and Great Ellingham.