About Us

St Mary's is the ancient Civic Church of Henley-on-Thames . It has many notable architectural features and dominates the skyline of the town.

In 1204 Aumericus de Harcourt was the first recorded priest. The present structure was almost certainly pre-dated by earlier buildings, but the first recorded reference is a charter of 1272 granting an indulgence “to all contributors to the building or the repairing of the church at Henley”. St. Mary’s is basically a 13th century building, but was enlarged and remodelled in the 15th century and again in the 19th century, so the building history is hard to decipher. The 13th-century church consisted of a sanctuary (chancel), nave, aisles, and probably transepts. Externally there is no remnant of this church, and the Early English style of the west doorway is, in fact, Victorian.

The church has an outstanding choral and liturgical tradition and is open daily.