The Priory of St Mary was a Benedictine nunnery founded in c. 1125 by brothers Walter Mascherell, Alexander de Wix and their sister Edith, who were the children of Walter the Deacon, who owned much of the area in the late 11th and early 12th centuries.

It held the status of a manor in its own right, and the tenants of its copyholds in Wix were obliged to perform manorial service.

In 1525, it was shut down by Thomas Wolsey, being one of 30 small religious houses which were closed to provide funding for The King's School, Ipswich, and the Oxford institution now known as Christ Church.

[2][3][4] The church was later restored and mostly rebuilt in 1744, then again in 1888, with much of the original limestone and rubble composition being replaced in brick.

An attempt was made in 1975 to steal the bell, which resulted in the frame being replaced with a modern design.