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St. Mary's Church in Pyrton is built of flint and brick with stone dressings. The building comprises a chancel, nave, south porch, a triple bell-cot at the west end, and a small vestry. Though rebuilt in 1855, the church retains a number of features from the original 12th-century building. There is a Romanesque chancel arch, with three orders of chevron mouldings, jamb shafts, and sculptured capitals. The single-light window in the north wall of the chancel is Romanesque. The window in the south wall is a modern copy in the same style. The Romanesque south doorway has jamb shafts and scalloped capitals; the arch is of three orders with chevron mouldings. The south porch was merely repaired in 1855, and retains its 14th-century arch and gable.

When Parker visited the church in 1850 he found 'some Decorated windows and parts of late Perpendicular work', in addition to the Norman south doorway, chancel arch, and one Norman window. This report on the windows is confirmed by Buckler's drawing of the church, viewed from the south-east and dated 1822, which shows an early Perpendicular east window and two Decorated windows in the south wall of the chancel and the south wall of the nave, and one late Perpendicular window, also in the south wall of the nave, adjoining the porch. The drawing also shows a small wooden turret with a pyramidal roof, surmounted by a cross. 

Various minor repairs were done during the 18th and early 19th centuries. They included work on the roof in 1720, carpenter's work amounting to over £43 in 1745, a new gallery in 1803, roughcasting and whitewashing the church in 1828, and roughcasting and colouring the chancel in 1831. A drawing of 1838, the year in which the wooden tower was damaged by high winds and had to be repaired, shows the church with its roof off. But all this was merely remedial and Bishop Wilberforce's visitation in 1854 probably prompted drastic action. Application was made to the bishop for a grant towards the cost of rebuilding the nave, and the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, the lay rectors, were called upon to assist in the rebuilding of the chancel. In 1848 the dean had complained of the expense of repairs and stated that 'the north part of the east wall would have fallen down before now were it not for the cross bars of late put in'. In a letter in 1854 to Lord Macclesfield, Dr. Bull of Christ Church stated that it was the practice of the dean and chapter to divide the expense of rebuilding with the lessee. He also stated that the dean and chapter did not contribute to expensive ornamentation. In a letter to Dr. Bull, dated 20 November 1854, the Revd. C. Conybeare, the vicar, reported that the north wall had begun to give out, and was already more than a foot out of perpendicular, and cracks were appearing in the east and north walls of the nave and widening rapidly. The ends of the beams were rotten and the roof was suspended on the corbels. It was decided that the whole church should be rebuilt, but that 'features of interest were to be carefully preserved or copied'. The Norman chancel arch, the old porch and south doorway were to be retained, and the old Decorated window to be reinserted, and the others made to match it. This plan was not fully adhered to. Instead, the old Romanesque window seems to have been reinserted in the chancel, and the window on the south side made to match it. There is no trace of an original Decorated window now, and the east end and nave windows are all 19th-century Decorated.

The nave was lengthened by 6 feet at the west end, and 120 additional seatings provided, the church being no longer adequate for the rising population of the mid-19th century. As early as 1818 it was said to be able to seat only 300 out of a population of 545. The small additional seats provided for the children in 1856 are still in position at the rear of the church. The cost of rebuilding the nave was estimated at £1,300 and the chancel at £300. Old materials provided £200 towards the expenses of rebuilding. The architect was J. H. Buckler, and the builder G. Wyatt of Oxford. The church was consecrated by Bishop Wilberforce in May 1856.

The only major work since the restoration has been the installation of new heating in the church in 1929 and of electric light in 1939. A marble tablet in the chancel records that the last was given by their children in memory of J. W. Bussey Bell, Vicar of Pyrton (1890–1914), and his wife Susan.

Though the pews, lectern, and stained glass are Victorian, the church still retains some of its earlier fittings. There is a medieval tub font, lead lined, standing on a modern base. In the south porch there are some medieval tiles of six different designs, all of which can be paralleled by other Oxfordshire medieval tiles. The oak pulpit, decorated with panels carved in relief, dates from 1636 and the churchwardens' accounts give many details about it: 'for 7 daies work to ye Joyner about ye Pulpit—10s.'; 'for making ye Pulpit—£5 15s.'; 'for bringing home the Pulpit—1s. 6d.', are among the entries, which also include the costs of the various materials, such as nails, glue, and joints for the pulpit door. 

The plain wooden chest, bound with iron bars and now in the vestry, was acquired in 1638. 'The 3 lockes of the Chest' cost 10s., and 15s. was 'paid to Embris' for it. The organ replaced the earlier harmonium in 1953. 

The oldest surviving memorial in the church is an incised Purbeck marble slab to a priest, dated c. 1340, lying in front of the altar. There was formerly a marginal inscription in brass letters, of which only one brass stop remains. The few matrices which are still decipherable show that the lettering was Lombardic. Wood recorded the stone, but Rawlinson inaccurately records 'a very ancient stone bearing in brass the figure of a priest on it'. 

Both Wood and Rawlinson mention a memorial inscription, now vanished, to Robert Rolles (d. 1507), who was the farmer of the demesne lands held by the Dean and Chapter of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. A brass, now on the south side of the chancel, but once 'in the body of the church', depicts Thomas Symeon (d. 1522), 'sumtyme fermar of Purtton courte', and Margaret his wife. The figures are full length, in civilian dress, and below are the matrices of their children. This is the only monument to the Symeon family, which was of importance in Pyrton in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Barnards are commemorated by monuments now on the west wall of the vestry, but formerly on the south wall. An alabaster cartouche, with strapwork decoration, frames an inscription to Thomas Barnard of Yorkshire, Prebend of Christ Church and Vicar of Pyrton (d. 1582) and his wife Edith (d. 1607). Below it is another memorial in stone, now much defaced. This is the inscription described by Rawlinson as 'on a rough free stone in capitals', the text of which he gives in full. It was erected by the six sons of the Barnards, to commemorate their mother. There are memorials in the chancel to Susanna Acworth, wife of Thomas Acworth, vicar, who died in childbirth in 1685; Clifford Middleton (d. 1697), a lessee of the rectory; Elizabeth Hill (d. 1715); George Hutchins, pastor of the church (d. 1735); Paul Blackall (d. 1811), co-lessee with Lord Macclesfield of the rectory from 1801; Ann Blackall, wife of the above (d. 1801), and to two of their children who both died in 1802.

Rawlinson records a black marble gravestone near the altar to Thomas Eustace of Pyrton (d. 1701). This is now in the south porch, together with black marble monumental slabs to Thomas Eustace, gent. (d. 1713), and his wife Mary (d. 1712/13). Other memorials are to Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Eustace (d. 1659/60); Jane, wife of Richard Wiggins (d. 1801); Moses Wiggins (d. 1808); Mary, wife of Moses Wiggins (d. 1812); Moses Wiggins (d. 1807).

The monuments in the nave are mostly to members of the Hamersley family: there is a stained glass window, made by Clayton and Bell and erected in 1893, on the south side to Hugh Hamersley (d. 1884), and his wife Mary (d. 1887); brass tablets to Lt. John Ducat Hamersley (d. 1892); Edward Samuel Hamersley of Pyrton Manor (d. 1909); Lt.Col. John Henry Hamersley (d. 1928); a brass tablet, designed by Eric Gill, to Col. Alfred St. George Hamersley, M.P. (d. 1929). Another member of the same family is Commander Gerald Ducat (d. 1955), grandson of Hugh Hamersley. Others commemorated are Emily Clara Hale (d. 1903) and her son 2nd Lieut. W. A. L. Hale (d. 1898); two local men, Sergeant Eborn, killed in action in South Africa in 1902, and G. W. Taylor, R.M., torpedoed in 1914; and a father and son, Charles Hopkins Morris (d. 1953) and C. A. Morris (d. 1924).

There are some 18th-century carved headstones in the churchyard. The lych-gate, designed by Boulton & Paul of Norwich, was put up in 1919 as a memorial to the thirteen parishioners killed in the First World War. A tablet has been added, containing four names, commemorating those who fell in the Second World War. There is a teak garden seat in the churchyard, given in memory of Alfred St. George and I. M. Hamersley.

The church had three bells in 1552, but these medieval bells have since been replaced. The present treble and the tenor were cast by Henry Knight I of Reading. The inscription on the treble reads 'Henri Knight Made this Bell 1606' and on the tenor 'Henri Knight made Mee 1605'. The bell cast in 1548 for £5 6s. 8d. at Buckingham has gone. The small bell was given by Mr. Ives in 1953 to replace the saunce bell, which was made by Henry Knight in 1593. This last bell, which must have been the one referred to in the churchwardens' accounts for 1652, is now preserved in the church; 'The saints bell of this church was borrowed by Mr. Thomas Eustace, with a promise to be restored again whenever the parishioners should seek for it. Sept. 13th, 1652.' This incident occurred during the Commonwealth period when the bells were silent. In 1571 the churchwardens paid £3 6s. 8d. 'for casting of our bell' and 13s. 6d. for 'expenses when we were at Reading', but this bell does not seem to have survived.

In 1552 the church had two silver chalices, a copper cross, two copes, and various other vestments and articles. One of the vestments had been given by Sir Adrian Fortescue before his execution in 1539. The church sold a chalice in 1573 for 30s. 4d. It still owns a chalice of 1589, a flagon of the same date and a paten of 1637. An entry in the churchwardens' accounts for 1638 states that £1 9s. 6d. was paid for a communion plate. 

The registers date from 1568. There are churchwardens' accounts for the years 1548–1882.

Historical information about St. Mary's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Pyrton', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 8, Lewknor and Pyrton Hundreds, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1964), pp. 138-178. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol8/pp138-178 [accessed 28 March 2023].

St. Mary's Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST MARY, Pyrton - 1059730 | Historic England.

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