A number of the buildings in the village have a similar style, most easily seen in the church. The original church was modified in Tudor times, with the chancel being rebuilt again in 1831. The present building was erected in 1866, to a design by John Gibson, paid for by the Dowager Lady Margaret Willoughby de Brook of Compton Verney, keeping the existing chancel. John Gibson went on to design the Victorian neo-Elizabethan estate houses and the horse drinking troughs in the village in the same style as that of the church. A number of the other houses in the village are thatched, with clear signs of original thatched roofs visible on several other dwellings. Until the sale of the Compton Verney estate in 1929, Combrook was a "closed" village, entirely owned by the Lord of the Manor, who could determine who lived there, and Combrook today is still considered to be one of the best-preserved estate villages in the country.