[5] The church is notable for its many large stained glass windows, decorative stone vaults, flying buttresses, rare hexagonal porch and massive Gothic spire.

[11] The original church was built and funded by the city's wealthy merchants, some of whom may have reached present-day North America before Christopher Columbus, sailing from the Port of Bristol.

Though the modern Port of Bristol is located further downstream, the original quayside still survives near the church, called Redcliffe Quay, where fragments of the red cliff can still be seen.

[3][5][11][15] Though historians do not agree on precisely when it took place, there is a notable change in architectural style when comparing the north and south transepts with the choir and nave.

[15] Sometime in 1574, Queen Elizabeth I made the first of several visits to St Mary Redcliffe, reputedly describing it as "the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England", though whether she actually said this is a matter of some debate.

From 1649 to 1660, during the time of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector, the pinnacles were removed, ornaments destroyed, the organ broken and much of the stained glass smashed by artillery fire.

The church's bells and other treasures were stored under the floor in sandbags to protect them from 1941 to 1944 and minor damage was sustained on a small number of occasions, mostly to the organs and roofs, though the upper (inner) north porch room was burnt out.

[3][15][24] The church did however come very close to more significant destruction on Good Friday in 1941, when a bomb dropped on a nearby street threw shrapnel, including a large chunk of tram rail, into the churchyard.

The tram rail, which has been left there to this day, is partially embedded in the ground with the force of the explosion and serves to remind local residents of how close the church came to destruction.

[3][25] In the 1960s, the present vivid stained glass windows in the Lady Chapel were installed and designed by Harry Stammers, and at the same time, £150,000 was spent between 1960 and 1965 on cleaning the external stonework.

[5] Below this arcade are two large windows, one each on the north and west sides, formed of three and four lights respectively, framed by massive buttresses complete with filleted angle shafts.

This stage, being some 44 feet (13 m) high contains triplets of huge louvred belfry openings which take up nearly the entire width and height of each wall, showing the verticality common in the late Gothic period.

[6] The spire's height is commonly misquoted as 292 feet (89 m), which comes from an appendix attached to the book 'Notes on the Church of St Mary Redcliffe' by Revd J. P. Norris in 1878.

This figure includes the deep foundations as well as the weathervane which has led to St Mary Redcliffe frequently being called the third tallest parish church in England.

[5] The main body of the church generally dates from the late Decorated and early Perpendicular Gothic periods of the mid-14th century and thus presents a unified and consistent style throughout.

The clerestory windows are smaller than their counterparts in the main body and have a different design to the rest of the church, featuring a central arch of three lights surrounded by a band of glazed quatrefoils.

[5][17] The chancel continues the same design as the nave but the north aisle is partially blocked by the two bay organ chamber, which has mullioned windows with trefoiled heads and a wide chimney breast.

The north and south transept gable ends have "immensely tall"[17] four-light windows divided into three tiers by two rows of transoms featuring Y-tracery and reticulated tracery in the arch heads.

[5] The main body of the church is vaulted nearly entirely in the lierne form, with varying rib designs, including lozenges in the nave, hexagons in the south aisle, squares in the transepts and rectangles in the choir.

[15] The church lost the majority of its medieval stained glass during the damage done by Parliamentary forces in the 17th century, with fragments confined to the north transept, St John's chapel and lower tower windows.

[2][11][17] In 1842, the committee responsible for the restoration of the church were mostly concerned with the condition of the stonework which was estimated to cost some £40,000 to repair, but were determined to have the large east window, which at the time was bricked up, filled with glass.

[15] A notable medieval window to survive is in the lowest stage of the tower, featuring eight large figures, including depictions of Archbishop Thomas Becket and the saints Lawrence, Michael, Matthias, John the Baptist and Elizabeth.

[3][15] In 2020, following the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, the church took the decision to remove the lower four panels in the main window of the north transept which paid tribute to him, temporarily replacing them with clear glass.

The winner was announced in September 2022 as being Ealish Swift, a junior doctor in one of the city's hospitals, who designed panels depicting the Middle Passage, Bristol bus boycott, and Refugee Crisis.

Notable fittings include the fine ironwork screen designed by William Edney in 1710 intended to divide the chancel and nave, but moved in the restoration to sit under the tower; and the Victorian reredos below the east window.

The bells were all weighed upon their arrival, where the tenor was found to be only 39 long cwt (4,368 kg), over half a tonne lighter than reputed, which then explained how the peal in 1899 was faster than many thought possible.

The last major piece of work to the bells in recent times was in 2017, when the fittings were dismantled and, together with the frame, were repainted in Taylor's standard red livery.

[26] The church has, however, kept its historic south churchyard, which has been described as a "cathedral close in miniature", with a small group of listed buildings sat around a south-facing lawn.

[57][58][59] The south churchyard contains the Redcliffe War Memorial, formed of a large, tapering stone shaft surmounted by a cross, designed by George Oatley in 1921.

Berkeley was Lord of Bedminster Manor and he granted the construction of a 2,514 metres (8,248 ft) long pipe from Knowle Hill to St Mary Redcliffe.