St Mary’s serves the picturesque village of Buriton, located S of Petersfield in E Hampshire. Faced in a mixture of local materials and covered in red tile roofs, it comprises a W tower, a S porch, a nave with four-bay arcades opening into N and S aisles, a chancel with a vestry on the N side, and a modern N extension. The arcades and the font, dating from the late 12thc, are the oldest features of the church.

In 1086 Buriton belonged to the manor of Mapledurham (Malpedresham). This was held by King William and had one church. William Rufus bestowed the manor on the Honor of Gloucestershire. In the 12thc the Earl of Gloucester granted the church with the chapel of Petersfield to St Mary, Nuneaton.

The manor descended by marriage to King John who, in 1205, granted Mapledurham to the Count of Evreux, then in 1214-16, successively, to Geoffrey de Mandeville, Savary de Mauleon and Roger de la Zouche. Its reversion to the Honor of Gloucestershire was confirmed by a grant of Henry III in 1248. By the 14thc the church had passed to the Bishops of Winchester.

Damage to the arcade capitals probably resulted from the rebuilding of the aisles: the S aisle in the late 13thc and the N aisle in 1764. According to VCH, part of the N arcade fell during the rebuilding of the aisle. Discussing the capitals and responds, Bullen et al. note that ‘most of those on the S side are renewed . . . after C17(?) restoration’.

The details of the two W bays of each arcade are considered earlier than those of the E bays, although probably set out at the same time (VCH). Bullen et al. date the arcades to c.1180-1200.

The church was restored in 1877-78 by A. W. Blomfield. Deprecating comments on the occasion of the reopening in 1878 illustrate the views of the time:

‘The foundation of the church dates from about 1160, the nave being evidently built on the rudest Byzantine traditions, with round arches to the aisles, and pillars, whose capitols, except in one instance, that on the right of the chancel, are totally devoid of foliation. The foliage in this case is merely a few leaves of arum, and a rough attempt to sketch a fern’ (Hampshire Post, 28 June 1878, 8).