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The church of St. Michael and All Angels in Clifton Hampden is beautifully situated on a cliff at a bend of the Thames and is approached by a flight of some 30 steps. It consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a chancel, a south chapel, a vestry, and a south porch. There is no tower, but a bell turret rises above the west end of the nave. The church was virtually rebuilt in 1843–4, and there were further substantial alterations between 1864 and 1866. 

The surviving arcade on the south side of the nave shows that the old chapel dated from the latter part of the 12th century. A north aisle and a south chapel were added in the 14th century, but the building was still of modest size. Sketches made before the 19thcentury rebuilding show it as small and squat, with a continuous sloping roof broken by dormer windows and a wooden bellcote. The dormers lighted a west gallery which was a post-Reformation addition.

During the 18th century the church seems to have suffered badly from neglect. Between 1775 and 1779 it was said to be in a ruinous state. In 1779 John Ridge, churchwarden, was excommunicated for failure to have the church repaired. Repairs costing £112 were, however, carried out under the direction of John Wyatt of Oxford in 1779–80. The south side of the church was partly rebuilt; there were minor repairs to the north side and to the bellcote; and the roof was relaid. The south porch was rebuilt in brick in 1819. 

The restoration of 1843–4 was undertaken by Sir Gilbert Scott with funds from a legacy of G. H. Gibbs, supplemented by his widow and son. The cost was £1,800. It amounted almost to a rebuilding, and Scott himself described what he did as 'not a strict restoration', for 'we had hardly anything left to restore—it is rather a refoundation (keeping in the main to the old plan)'. The style adopted was that of the early 14th century, and Scott designed an elaborate 'Founder's tomb' for Gibbs on the north side of the chancel.

The additions of 1864–6 were also the work of Scott. The north aisle was enlarged and a vestry and organ chamber were added at its east end. The rebuilt north wall contains three imitation Decorated windows and one genuine Early English lancet reused from the old building. Low down on the outer wall near the west end is a 12th-century carving representing a boar hunt. It was probably the tympanum of the original doorway.

In 1899 dormer windows were inserted in the roofs of the north and south aisles.

Externally, little of the medieval fabric remains except the 14th-century south chapel. The interior is a mixture of genuine medieval architecture with the revived Gothic of the Victorian era. The south arcade of the nave consists of four transitional Romanesque arches with foliated capitals and moulded bases. There is a piscina in the wall of the south aisle. At the east end of the aisle a 14thcentury arch gives access to the small south chapel. The north aisle is separated from the nave by an arcade of four arches with continuous mouldings. There is no chancel arch, a screen only dividing the chancel from the nave.

The furnishings are all Victorian. In 1864 the chancel, previously used for the incumbent's family, was refitted with stalls and the choir placed there; in the same year the pulpit and reading desk were removed and a new pulpit, forming part of the screen, was inserted; an oak screen erected in 1843–4 was replaced in 1864 by a low screen, and in 1867 the upper part of the screen, made in brass by Hart & Son from a design by Sir G. G. Scott, was put up. The figures of St. Michael and the Angels are by J. F. Redfern. The year 1864 saw also the appearance of a new organ. In 1873–4 the reredos and retable were erected (designer C. Buckeridge, constructor Daniel Bell); the mosaics are by Clayton and Bell. Before 1873 a picture of Ecce Homo stood above the stone altar. The east window of the chancel, inserted in 1873, is also by Clayton and Bell. There are two stained-glass windows in the south side of the chancel: the first, a small one, is a representation of St. Michael and is by Pace; the second, inserted in 1913, is to the memory of the Venerable Alfred Pott (1822–1908), vicar 1875–82, and his wife, and is by H. W. Bryans, a pupil of C. E. Kempe. Nearby is a brass commemorating John Lomax Gibbs (vicar 1864–74). A sanctuary light, hanging before the altar, is the gift (1921) of his children who made provision for its continual burning. The 19th-century font of early Gothic style replaces a leaden one melted down and used to repair the roof in the early 19th century. The brass candelabra are Victorian; the church is now lit by electric light, which was installed in 1935. The memorials to the fallen of the two world wars are at the east end of the north aisle; they were dedicated in 1920 and 1945. In the chancel is the 'Founder's tomb' commemorating George Henry Gibbs (1785–1842). The only other memorials are brass plates to members of the Gibbs family. In the churchyard, however, is a memorial to the first Lord Aldenham, who died in 1907. It is in the form of a cross with an octagonal base and shaft. It was designed by Walter Tower, nephew and pupil of C. E. Kempe. 

There is a chime of five bells—treble, second, third, fourth, tenor. The oldest of these is the tenor, made in 1844 and recast in 1907. The others were inserted in 1907 and are by Mears and Stainbank. The former bells were by C. and G. Mears. In 1552 the chapel had two bells. 

The church has little plate, none of it old. A chalice, paten and flagon, all silver-gilt and hallmarked 1844, are by I. J. Keith. Another silver-gilt paten is hall-marked 1863. A modern brass almsdish is undated. 

There was no churchyard until 1819, burials taking place at Dorchester. In that year Anne Noyes gave ground for the purpose. A lychgate of carved oak stands at the north entrance to the graveyard; it was erected in 1843–4.

The registers begin in 1578.

Historical information about the Church of St. Michael and All Angels is provided by 'Parishes: Clifton Hampden', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London, 1962), pp. 16-27. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp16-27 [accessed 16 March 2023].

The Church of St. Michael and All Angels is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, Clifton Hampden - 1368837 | Historic England.

For more information about the Church of St. Michael and All Angels see Parishes: Clifton Hampden | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).