Prior to the 19thc, the church was largely Romanesque with a 13thc chancel and N aisle. The latter was removed together with the N arcade and its 12thc columns when the nave was rebuilt in 1819 by James Ward, and the whole was much restored and the window tracery inserted in 1882-4 by H. Cockbain. All that remains of the Romanesque church today is the S doorway of the nave.

Beeley was held by King William himself in 1086 and by Godric in 1066, consisting of 6 bovates of land. The church was one of the many chapels within the large and unwieldy parish of Bakewell, and was presented, along with Bakewell church and all its other chapels, to the Cathedral of Lichfield by King John in 1192.

The date was suggested as c.1150-60 by Cox. He mentions that prior to the alterations of the 1820s there was a N arcade having capitals with heads at the corners, and that these were probably of the same date as the old porch (which was rebuilt in 1806), and presumably as the S doorway.