A wooden chapel was erected on the present site.
Later, as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas a Beckett, Henry II ordered his men to go around the country and converting wooden chapels into stone. Hence the central part of our church dates from 1175.
Further extensions in 1350 and 1450 and an increase in height gave us the building we see today.
St. Mary’s also is where according to legend Robin Hood married his Lady Marian.