Woodeaton has had a parish church since the early or middle part of the 11th century, when a Saxon timber one was built. This was destroyed by fire by about AD 1080 at the latest.
The present Church of England parish church of the Holy Rood originates from an early Norman stone church that was built between 1070 and 1120 to replace the destroyed Saxon one. It was a small building, dominated by a western tower.The original Norman layout is not entirely certain: there may have been a small nave east of the tower and an even smaller chancel beyond that, or the tower may have been a "tower-nave" with only a chancel to the east of it.
In about 1180–1220 a late Norman south aisle and possible south chapel were added and in about 1200–50 the chancel was extended.An Early English Gothic doorway in the south wall of the chancel is of a style that suggests a date of 1200–30.Several Early English lancet windows in the chancel also date from this period.
The nave was rebuilt in about 1250–1300. Later in the Middle Ages, the east and south walls of the chancel were rebuilt and were given late Perpendicular Gothic windows.[ The eastern window in the south wall of the nave was also revised with Perpendicular tracery.
The Perpendicular Gothic belltower was added in either the 14th or 15th century.Unusually the tower is built on columns erected inside the nave. This seems to be because the ground falls away west of the church to an extent that precluded building a tower conventionally to the west of the nave.
The south porch was built in the 18th century. In 2010 the church roof was restored, re-using many of the original Stonesfield slates. Holy Rood church is a Grade I listed building.
James Sadler, the first English balloonist, landed near the village after his first ascent from Christ Church Meadow in Oxford on 4 October 1784. He had flown a distance of about 6 miles (10 km) and reached a height of about 3,600 feet (1,100 m).[