There is evidence of a church on this site from pre-Norman times, with crosses and other fragments dating from the 7th - 9th Centuries.  As you enter the building by the south door you can see the hammerhead cross which has been mounted to give an idea of its original proportions.  The position of the church is a good one, on a promontory, which in its earliest days would have been surrounded by water, commanding the mouth of the River Derwent.  The dedication to Saint Michael is quite common for Christian Norse settlers.  Michael was the protecting angel - the one who kept everyone safe from the dangers surrounding them.

11th Century writings tell of the monks of Lindisfarne visiting Derwentmouth in the 9th Century, carrying the body of Saint Cuthbert to keep it safe from the Danish invaders.  The story tells that on reaching the west, the monks set off across the sea, but were driven back by a storm.  They eventually returned to Durham where Cuthbert is now interred in the Cathedral.

The Norman church is the first building about which there is any real documentation.  The church was granted by Ketel to Saint Mary's, York in around 1125, and the first Rector named on the panels in the church is Walter in 1150.  Like many Border churches of the period it was constructed for protection as well as for worship.  Originally the tower would only be accessible from the nave.  An undated primitive drawing, and the foundations uncovered during the archaeological dig following the 1994 fire, would seem to show that the church consisted simply of a nave and chancel.  There was an entrance porch on the south side, and a doorway at the north.  This outward appearance would remain little changed for around six and a half centuries, and the church served a small community of fisher folk and farm workers prospering under the guidance of the Curwen family - Lords of the Manor.

A medieval sculpture of Sir Christopher Curwen and his wife Elizabeth, although badly damaged in the fire of 1994, has been beautifully restored and was re-erected in a new position in the south aisle.  The effigy shows Sir Christopher in full armour, with a dog beneath his head and another at his feet.  Two angels support his wife's head and she had two puppies at her feet.

Over the centuries the interior of the church was altered to make the greatest possible use of all the available space.  There were five galleries, one on each side of the chancel, one on the north side of the nave, and two, one above the other, at the west end.  Access to the north chancel gallery was by means of a bridge on top of the chancel screen.  An example of a similar design can be seen at Saint Mary's at Whitby.  The galleries were needed because Workington's population was increasing rapidly, due to the development of the collieries and the enlargement of the harbour.

By the middle of the 18th Century, it was suggested that the church should be completely rebuilt, but before this was done there was a lengthy process of litigation.  There was some local opposition to the matter which had to be referred to the Lord Chancellor in London.  A Commission of the Consistory Court was set up and this sat for three days  in May 1766.  Witnesses for both sides gave their evidence - the most memorable plea in favour of the new building being that in the old church anyone sitting in the galleries and wishing to take communion had to go out of the church by one door and re-enter by another - not ideal in poor weather.  At the end of May the judgment was made, being in principle in favour of the rebuilding.  However a proposal that the new pews should be treated as freehold was regarded as legally inadmissible, so the faculty was withheld.  It was a further two years before a second Commission was held.  New evidence was brought - mainly to do with the now poor state of the old building - but it was not until January 1769 that the court issued the citation granting a faculty.

There was an appeal against the decision, which failed, and finally the faculty was issued in April 1790 - more than twenty years after the original proposal.  In another two years the rebuilding was finished and the church opened for worship.

Less than one hundred later, in January 1887, the church was almost entirely destroyed by fire, leaving only the tower and the walls standing.

The third rebuilding of the church was completed within three years at a cost of £7,000.  The Georgian walls were retained, but were altered to the Victorian Gothicised style - that is with the addition of battlements and pointed windows and archways.  The Norman arch was rediscovered, having been plastered over by the Georgians.

In 1937 extensive re-organisation and redecoration was undertaken.  The stone pulpit was replaced with a simple wooden structure, and the pews lime-treated to blend better with this and the choir and clergy stalls.  The timbers above the chancel were splendidly painted, red, blue and gold, like those at Carlisle Cathedral.  The Norman font was also reinstated, having been found discarded in the grounds in the 1930's.

Forty years or so later the soft sandstone of the window tracery had begun to deteriorate, and a further restoration appeal was launched.  To celebrate the completion of the work, a flower festival was held in September 1994.  Two days later on the night of 28th September 1994, fire broke out again, and once more the parish church lay ruined.

Permission to rebuild the church following the disastrous fire was given by the Diocese of Carlisle, with conditions attached.  The church had to be economically viable, and should contain new facilities that would benefit the community as a whole.

The planned development of the galleries, which had little use in the latter years, made space available without reducing the worship area to a great extent.  The north gallery was set aside for a Theological Library, to contain 4,000 or so books donated by the widow of a former Rector, Arthur Attwell, who had gone on to become Bishop of Sodor and Man.  A Heritage area was also planned here to display the artefacts discovered in the archaeological excavation that had to take place before the rebuilding could commence.  Once more a west gallery was incorporated, this time to house a meeting room fully equipped for conferences of up to 100 people, and to be suitable for lectures, exhibitions, training seminars etc.  The south gallery was to house meeting rooms and the organ speakers.  New access to the ringers room and bell chamber from a mezzanine gallery also allowed access to a viewing platform on the roof of the tower, giving a unique vantage point for the surrounding area.

The worship area was to have a traditional feel, the use of the Georgian outline, with its Gothic windows, dictated that.  The materials to be used though were modern.  Ash and light oak, and lots of white paintwork make the building light and bright.  The colour scheme was planned to lift our eyes from the earthy hues of the carpets, through to the glory of the sanctuary and the blue of the ceiling representing the heavens.  The surrounding gallery has representations of the nine saints who brought Christianity to the northern region, and a figure of Saint Michael with glass wings, all created by Edmund Blood, a local artist.  Edmund also designed the angels in the interior windows at gallery level.  The saints and angels surround the congregation at worship.  New stained glass windows were also commissioned.

Rebuilding costs were going to be rather more than the £7,000 of the previous century.  An estimated figure of £2.5 million was the starting point, but by the time of completion well over £3 million had been spent.  The church was re-dedicated in a series of services, beginning on 4th February 2001.  A church for the new millennium, the latest and hopefully, the last.