The present church was probably built in the 14th or 15th century, probably on the site of an earlier building. A Llandaff Charter of around the 8th century tells of a grant by King Awst of Brycheiniog and his sons to Bishop Euddogwy of a royal estate corresponding to the present parish of Llangorse. The Awst Charter records the donation by Awst of his own and his sons bodies to the church for burial, indicating that Llangorse church could have been a royal burial ground. Another Llandaff Charter describes a meeting in a monastery at Llangorse in 925AD between King Tewdewr of Brycheiniog and Bishop Libiau.
The first definite reference to a church building is dated 1121, and the existence of the font, dated about 1300, provides further evidence for an earlier church. Construction of the present church in the 15th Century is indicated by the style of the south arcade (3 bays to the nave and one to the chancel) whilst the beautiful barrel roof in the south aisle is thought to be part of a late 15th Century enlargement. The doorway, windows and priest's door in the south wall are early Tudor but the tracery of the south aisle, east and sanctuary windows date to around 1840. A restoration by Thomas Nicholson undertaken in 1874 left no trace of the old nave and chancel detail except the two 15th Century north wall windows. He built (or possibly rebuilt) the chancel arch and all the chancel but kept the roof. We do know of a 'disaster' taking place at the church and although no memory of what happened now remains it may well be that this necessitated the restoration.
Amongst many other notable features of the parish church are the 'weeping sanctuary', the chancel arch, the Byfield organ, the lectern, the bells, and the mass dial.
St. Paulinus, properly Paul Aurelian was a 6th century Celtic saint. The son of a Welsh nobleman, he was educated by St Illtyd at Llantwit Major, after which he founded a monastic settlement at Llanddeusant and was ordained priest. Possibly because the patron saint of the nearby parish of Llanhamlach was his old tutor Illtyd he then built a monastery or church at Llangorse. It has been described as "a lonely place among the mountains…suitable for the life of contemplation".
Paulinus is thought to have left Llangorse for the court of King Mark of Cornwall, sailing from there to Brittany where he became the first Bishop of Leon. Rhygyfarch tells us that the young St David spent many years as a pupil of Paulinus, and once restored the sight of his ageing tutor. St Teilo was also a pupil of Paulinus, whose mortal remains lie in a shrine at the former cathedral of St Pol de Leon, Brittany.