Eling is the tenth oldest church in England, a small chapel being built on this site around 850 A.D. All that remains of the original Saxon workmanship are the arch in the north aisle and a small window opening onto the Altar.

Later the church was transferred by a subsequent king to the convent of Mottisfont by whom John-de-Somborne was appointed in 1329. A list of the vicars of Eling can be seen on the belfry wall adjoining the
font. Mottisfont retained the patronage until the middle of the 16th Century, when, at the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII, Lord Sandys was presented with it, hence he also became patron of Eling.
 
It was this Lord Sandys who brought the beautiful picture of the Last Supper, believed to be by Marco Marziale, a pupil of Leonardo-da-Vinci, from Italy and presented it to Eling Church. It lay rolled up and forgotten until in the early 1900s.Rev. T. Thistle realised its value and had it placed in its present position.The scene of the Nativity which is now at the back of the font was removed from the Altar, for the picture to be placed where it would seem it had always been intended to be as a back cloth to the Altar - Do note the details - the cat climbing into the basket (was there fish in it?) and the little dog waiting for the "crumbles that fall from the Master's Table"..Southernlife Eling Murder