St Martin's Church in Greatford is the very first building designed by New Zealand's eminent ecclesiastical architect Frederick de Jersey Clere (1856-1952), and is one of the earliest examples of his work to be constructed.

The earliest Anglican services at Greatford had been held by the early Anglican missionary Reverend Richard Taylor at Westoe (Category I), which was the home of Sir William Fox (1812?-1893). From 1875, a former British army officer named Major William Jarvis Willis began holding lay services in the town's newly opened school. In 1881, Clere was commissioned to design a church building on land that had been part of Woodendean, Willis' estate.

The son of an Anglican clergyman, Clere was born in Lancashire, England, and had trained as an architect from the age of 16. He immigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1877 when he was 21 years old. He moved to Feilding in 1879, initially staying at Westoe. The commission to design the church at Greatford was the first commission Clere received as an architect and, years later, Clere recalled the event, writing that 'The first church entrusted to me was Greatford, the first of the several scores which I had been privileged to design'.

Clere adopted the Victorian Free Gothic style which was then a popular choice for churches throughout New Zealand. The small, rectangular church was built entirely from native timbers. The exterior was originally clad in board and battens, and its steeply pitched roof was covered with shingles, although these have since been replaced with long-run steel. The church consists of a nave, chancel, a small bell tower, a southern transept containing the porch, and a vestry and baptistery at the rear of the building. The interior has exposed timber framing, cross bracing and cladding.

The design of the Church reflects Clere's early architectural principles and ideas. Convinced that parishes were being overcharged for the construction of their churches, Clere set out to demonstrate how economically it could be done. 'After all', Clere noted, a small church is little more than a glorified barn and no farmer would dream of spending anything like as large a sum as £1000 on such a building'. The church at Greatford cost the parish a mere £230.

The church was constructed by brothers J and A Broadbelt of Greatford. It was built entirely from native timbers, which were supplied by Edward Nash of Halcombe for £77 3s 3d. It was roofed with heart totara shingles that were split on the site by Thomas Frampton at the cost of £13 15s. It was opened, free of debt, on 30 July 1882, just five months after the completion of St John the Evangelist Church in Feilding, which had been designed by Clere in 1881.

Less than a year after the completion of the Greatford church, Clere became the chief architect for the Wellington Anglican diocese. He designed over 100 churches in this capacity and is highly regarded for his success in marrying European architectural styles to New Zealand conditions.

Due to a personal dispute between Major Willis and the Anglican Bishop Octavius Hadfield (1814-1904), the church was not consecrated until Willis' death in 1885, three years after its construction. Named St Martin's, the church was provided with a bell, weighing 69 pounds (31.3 kilograms), a lecturn, and a sanctuary chair. From funds raised by the local community, stained glass windows and a stone font were also purchased. The Reverend F. B. Gorton, who held the first service in the new church, donated the altar cloth. In 1889 Edward Read gifted land he had purchased from Willis's estate Woodendean eleven years earlier, to the Church. Two years later, in 1891, land located adjacent to the church was donated by James Bull, and consecrated as a cemetery. The church's caretaker and bell-ringer, Joshua Thoms, was buried there in 1892. St Martin's church, still in use by the Anglican community of Greatford, has served as a parish church for over 120 years and, apart from minor alterations, continues to demonstrate the early skill of its architect.