Stewkley is a large straggling village situated eight miles north-east of Aylesbury. The church of St. Michael is by far the best and most complete example of Norman architecture in Buckinghamshire. The history of the parish can be traced back to the mid-12th century and it is likely that the church was built by Geoffrey de Clinton.

 

St. Michael's church presents its west front to the road where the doorway has a typical Norman arch and a tympanum depicting dragons with twisted tails. The doorway is flanked on either side by blind arches, all with a double chevron ornament. The doorway on the south side has similar ornamentation and is protected by a Victorian porch added as part of a modest restoration by G. E. Street in the 1860s.

 

The chevron decoration continues inside the church as a freize at window cill height that follows the curve of the windows and over the arch to the tower and the chancel arch. Stewkley's growing population necessitated the building of a gallery in the space below the tower in 1621. The gallery was later removed when the west gallery was erected.

 

Apart from the Victorian restoration the only significant change to Stewkley church was the addition of a vestry in 1910. The diocesan architect positioned the structure a few feet south of the chancel and linked it by a small passageway so as to minimise the alteration to the original ground plan.