The church consists of a chancel, nave, W tower and S porch. The Savile transeptal chapel was added by T.C. Hine, who restored the church in 1873. The two-light square-headed chancel window isc.1400 whilst the pointed chancel arch is probably 100 years or so earlier. In the floor of the nave is a 14thc. grave slab of unusual design. The tower bears a repair date of 1663, and an epitaph to William Chappell, Bishop of Cork and Ross, who spent some time at Bilsthorpe during the Civil War and died in Derby in 1649. The only Romanesque feature is the font.

Bilsthorpe belonged to the sokeland of Rufford (held by Gilbert de Ghent) in 1086. No church or priest was recorded, either in Bilsthorpe or in Rufford.

The drum on which the font stands is also 12thc., perhaps the drum of a pier.