In the mid-C12th the Borough of Woodstock was founded by the king, and it is presumed that the present church was established at this time. It was created within the parish of Bladon as a chapel of ease. It is known that a S aisle was added in the C13th, and a bell tower, mentioned in 1279, stood on the N side of the church. This was rebuilt or raised in the C15th, but taken down as unsafe in the C18th. A new tower and N aisle were built in the classical style by John Yenn in 1784-6. The medieval church was almost completely rebuilt by A.W. Blomfield in 1878. Today the S doorway, richly decorated with two continuous orders of chevron, is the only Romanesque survival.

The structure of the S doorway, with two continuous orders of lateral chevron, is typical of the mid-C12th. Continuous orders are a specialty of churches in Berkshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but rare in this country as a whole (Newson, 2013).

The reddening of the stone of the outer order of the S doorway is noticeable. A similar reddish colour is visible in the decorative stonework of the chapter-house doorway of St Frideswide’s Priory (now part of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford). It is attributed in the latter to having been in a fire, and one was known to have occurred late in the C12th. This was quite a common occurrence, particularly if a wooden porch surrounded the doorway. At Woodstock the reddest stone appears over the arch, where the inner order, from its pristine appearance, has been replaced. Two large jamb stones of the inner order, near ground level, have also been replaced due to erosion.