Bletchingdon is located in N Oxfordshire, midway between Oxford and Bicester. The present church has a 13thc. chancel and a Perpendicular nave and W tower. It was much restored in the 19thc. There is evidence of earlier work in the blocked round-headed arch of a lancet-sized window on the N side of the chancel, and the Romanesque stone fragment of star-in-square carving, probably from a lintel, mounted on the outside of the S wall of the nave.

The earliest evidence for the church's existence is from 1074, when a grant of tithes was made by Robert d'Oilly (VCH). The church is situated within Bletchingdon Park, which was extended in the 16thc. A Georgian house succeeded the original manor house.

St Giles belongs to the Akeman benefice, comprising Bletchingdon, Great Chesterton, Hampton Gay, Kirtlington, Middleton Stoney and Weston-on-the-Green.

The width of the decorated stone fragment is consistent with it being a lintel, possibly from a previous S doorway.