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The church of St Mary the Virgin in Cottisford is a small building dating from the 13th century. It was described in the early 19th century as a 'low mean structure consisting of a tower covered with slate, a nave and chancel'.  The 'tower' was, however, no more than a bell-cote contrived by raising the pitch of the roof at the west end of the nave. The roof was made uniform in the 19th century, and the church now consists of a chancel, an aisleless nave, and a south porch. The three-light east window of the chancel seems to be late 13th century: a recess on the north side contains a stone tomb-slab decorated with the stem of a cross. The remains of the original rood-screen steps, rough stones about 2 feet high, were formerly visible under the pulpit. The south porch has a 13th-century doorway and two mass-clocks on the west side of the porch; there is also a priest's door.

When Rawlinson visited the church in 1718, he found it very much out of repair and 'very nastily kept by reason of holes and a pigeon house at the west end of it.' The only 18th-century work recorded is the pointing of the walls and relaying of the pavement of the porch in 1757, but the imposts of the chancel arch have crudely cut classical mouldings which suggest that the arch was reconstructed in the late 17th or 18th centuries. The parishioners reseated the north side with open sittings in 1849 and the south side in 1854. In 1860 the rector, C. S. Harrison, reported that the fabric was in a very dilapidated condition, the roof not weatherproof, the windows unsightly, and the accommodation insufficient. Hopes of enlarging the church came to nothing, but restoration was carried out in 1861 by Charles Buckeridge at a cost of £365, largely raised by private subscription. Most of the square-headed windows were gothicised, and the small belfry shown in Buckler's drawing of 1825 was taken down. The church was retiled with Daneshill tiles in 1933.

The font was given in 1861 by John Mansfield of Hethe. There is a carved royal coat of arms of Georgian date (1714–1801), and an oak screen, dating from the 17th century, which was given by the rector, S. M. Statham, in 1935. The 18th-century organ, from the chapel in Steane Park, was installed in about 1940 as a memorial to him. It was made by Samuel Parsons of London: it has a sliding keyboard and an elegant mahogany case of Gothic design. 

There is a mutilated brass without inscription depicting a man in armour and his wife, both kneeling, and thirteen children. It bears the arms of Samwell and probably commemorates John Samwell (d. c. 1500), leaseholder of Eton's manor. There was once a memorial inscription to Robert Petty (d. 1612), a Cottisford landowner, but it cannot now be traced. There are wall monuments to the following: Richard Eyre (d. 1761) and his wife Martha Eyre (d. 1772); James Edwards Rousby (d. 1848); Edwards Rousby (d. 1875); and C. S. Harrison (rector 1853–96). There is a tablet commemorating John Mansfield's charity. 

At the Reformation the church owned a parcelgilt chalice, two sets of vestments, two copes, and a censer. In the Commonwealth period there were a silver chalice, a carpet, and two chests. There are now two Elizabethan chairs from Cottisford House in the sanctuary, and an old iron chest brought in 1953 from Fringford church. The present Elizabethan chalice and paten cover (1585) are respectively inscribed 'Cotsford Church Cup' and 'Cotsford'. Another chalice and paten, purchased in Spain, were presented by the 4th Earl of Effingham of Tusmore Park. 

The timber belfry in the apex of the roof contains two bells, dated 1710 and 1858, there were also two in the 16th century. A small late-17th-century sanctus bell is in the church. 

The earliest register contains baptisms from 1611, marriages from 1651, and burials from 1610. Those for baptisms 1760–1811 and burials 1762–1812 contain notes on the parish.

The base and part of the shaft of an ancient cross still stand in the churchyard near the south porch.

Historical information about St. Mary's Church is provided by British History Online. 'Parishes: Cottisford', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 6, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1959), pp. 103-116. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol6/pp103-116 [accessed 28 January 2023].

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST MARY, Cottisford - 1046439 | Historic England.

For more information about St. Mary's Church see Parishes: Cottisford | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).