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St. Mary's Church at Garsington comprises a chancel, nave with aisles and clerestory, western tower, and south porch. The earliest part of the present structure, the tower, dates from the end of the 12th century. Fragments of what was thought to be a 12th-century chancel were found during the restoration of 1849 and the marks of the steep pitch of the original nave roof were also found on the tower. The early church could, therefore, have had no aisles. The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century and is lighted by windows with simple interlacing tracery of the period. This view seems to be supported by documentary evidence. In 1291 a papal relaxation of a year and 40 days of penance was granted to penitents who visited Garsington church on the four feast days of the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Cross and their octaves; the encouragement thus given to penitents may have been prompted by the local desire for alms to defray the expenses of the new building. It is possible that the north aisle was added in the 13th century and a south one in the 14th century, that the walls and roof of the nave were raised and a clerestory inserted, and that the porch over the south door may date from the late 14th century, but owing to the thorough restoration of 1849, it is impossible to be certain of the date of the original work. 

In 1668 small buttresses were added to the north doorway and two more to strengthen the side walls— work which was commemorated by a stone at the east end of the aisle inscribed 'lbff, 1668'. The roof was also strengthened and the east clerestory window on the north side was replaced by a large square window, probably put in by Dr. Ralph Bathurst, President of Trinity (1664–1704), as it corresponded exactly with those of Bathurst's building at Trinity before it was pulled down. Attention was also paid to the church furniture; communion rails, 'good of their kind', and a pulpit were installed. 

Little work appears to have been done to the fabric in the 18th century, and the bishop's orders in Huddesford's day (1731–76) that the side walls of the tower, church, and chancel should be pointed in many places, the south door of the chancel be repaired and made close, and the bells and the top of the communion table repaired, suggest some neglect. On the other hand it is evident that the parishioners were not without interest in the beautification of their church. Richard Turrill, 'clerk', gave the font in 1722; William Bell a velvet cover to the pulpit and reading-desk in 1779; and one of the Harper family left money for a clock, which was made by John Thwaites at a cost of £172 4s. in 1796 and was designed to strike the hours on the tenor bell. 

With the 19th century care for the fabric and the church's interior decoration increased. The rector, James Ingram, an antiquary of distinction, had six new stained-glass windows put in the chancel in 1845 by I. H. Russell of St. Clement's, Oxford. The coats of arms depicted are for the most part those of societies or persons having an historical connexion with the church, i.e. St. John's College, Durham College, Trinity, St. Alban's Abbey, William IV, and the Ingram family. The old east window which was thus replaced contained representations of the crowned Virgin and Child in the centre, and four armorial shields in each of the top side lights. The 18th-century font was replaced by a fascimile of the font at Weston (Lincs.) and was given by a Fellow of Trinity. In 1848–9 a complete restoration at a cost of £1,073 16s. 11d. was undertaken. 

The architect employed was Joseph Clarke of London, the builders R. & I. Castle of Oxford. The chancel arch was rebuilt in keeping with the style of the north aisle, the two arcades and their clerestories were remodelled, the Bathurst window in the north aisle was destroyed, and the whole church was reroofed, the existing lead being replaced by Westmorland slate. The plaster ceiling, which had concealed the fine timbered roof with carved corbels, was removed; the two middle windows of the chancel formerly blocked by monuments were opened up and several other windows were restored and reset; the paving and flooring were renewed; the ancient box pews, so often the cause of contention between families in the past, were replaced by modern ones; the doors, porch, and lych-gate were restored. Traces of very rude representations of the history of Jonah were found under the whitewash of the clerestory.

The 15th-century rood screen was removed to the tower arch, and the gallery, probably an 18th century addition, which had formerly filled the arch, was removed. The original stone altar, found under the floor, was again installed in the chancel. A new reading-desk and a wainscot pulpit on a stone base, made by George Jarrett, were also set up. Jarrett, a Garsington carpenter, was responsible for most of the carved woodwork, including the carving of the bosses on the chancel roof. 

In 1852 the tower, which had been damaged by the careless hanging of the bells, was repaired on the advice of Talbot Bury at a total cost of £174, which was met from the rates. 

An organ built by Charles Martin of Oxford was installed in 1895. In 1898 the glass in the east window was once again replaced, this time by F. P. Morrell, who gave new glass for the east window in memory of his father. It came from St. Giles' church, Oxford. In 1912 a carved oak reredos was erected; in 1921 a stove was installed; and in 1928 electric light replaced the gas which in 1913 had replaced hanging oil lamps. Lamps for the church are first recorded in the early 13th century, when Walter son of Pain made a grant of land in Garsington on condition that the recipient should pay a gallon of oil each year to the church on the Vigil of the Nativity of the Virgin for a light. Walter himself gave a lamp and a cord for hanging it. An example of a 16th-century bequest for lights in the choir of the church is found in a will of 1577, when 17s. 4d. was bequeathed. 

The monuments include an ancient stone floorslab with a defaced inscription beginning 'Isabele de . . .'. Wood suggested that it commemorated one of the coheirs of Thomas de Maydenhatch. J. H. Parker's suggestion that the inscription should read: 'Isabele de Fortibus gist ici, Deu de sa alme eyt merci' cannot be correct, for she is known to have been buried elsewhere. 

There is also a brass to Thomas Radley (d. 1484) and his wife Elizabeth with their children, and there was once one to John Spencer and his two wives. 

There is a 17th-century memorial to Jane Wickham (d. 1657), and the following 18th-century Sadler and Wickham memorials: William Wickham (d. 1727), Mary Wickham (d. 1753), the Revd. William Wickham of Stoke Talmage (d. 1770), and his daughter Ann, wife of Thomas Drake TyrwhittDrake; Joseph Sadler (d. 1762), his wife Elizabeth (d. 1768), and his son John (d. 1787). There is a tablet to Elizabeth (d. 1765), wife of James Morrell, an Oxford attorney; a 19th-century memorial to the Aldworth family; a brass to the Revd. James Ingram, President of Trinity (d. 1850); and a memorial tablet put up after the First World War. 

The church's possessions were surprisingly poor. In 1552 the churchwardens listed them as follows: 'a chalyce of silver, two laten crosses, three great belles, one lytle bell, a blew cope of silk' and other vestments.  The chalice mentioned was probably the one now in existence which President Bathurst had had remade. It has inscribed on the foot: 'ex redintegratione Rad. Bathurst, Rectoris, a.d. 1682.'

The repair of the bells, here as elsewhere, was a favourite object for bequests of money in the post Reformation period. The three 'greate belles' of 1552 had all been replaced by the first half of the 18th century. There is at present a ring of six bells. They range in date from 1696 to 1825. The earliest, the treble, was cast by Richard Keene of Woodstock. 

The churchyard was enlarged in 1854 after the conclusion of negotiations with Magdalen College who owned the required land: the rickyard was exchanged for a part of the rent-charge payable to the rector under the Tithe Commutation Act: it was again extended in 1907 by the inclusion of part of the glebe and part of the waste of the manor

The registers date from 1562 and are complete. There are churchwardens' account books for 1797– 1842, 1847–1928, and 1893–1903.

Historical information about St. Mary's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Garsington', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5, Bullingdon Hundred, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1957), pp. 134-156. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol5/pp134-156 [accessed 19 March 2023].

St. Mary's Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST MARY, Garsington - 1284943 | Historic England.

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