Cuddesdon parish was originally much larger that it is today, as it originally encompassed areas such as Wheatley, Denton and Chippinghurst. By the mid 19th century these had all become separate civil parishes in their own right, and Cuddesdon parish was further reduced in size when parts of it were transferred to Holton and Forest Hill.
The advowson of Cuddesdon was originally held by Abingdon Abbey, and in 1231 the abbey was granted papal permission to appropriate the church, where it remained until the Dissolution.
The advowson then passed to the Crown, who subsequently leased it out until 1589, when the queen granted the advowson and rectory to the Bishop of Oxford. The first bishops palace was on the glebe in 1636/7 and the bishop technically became vicar of the parish.
The parish registers commence in 1541, and include entries for Wheatley until the parishes separated in the 19th century.
The collection was originally held at the Bodleian Library, and was transferred to Oxfordshire Archives in the 1980s. Further records were deposited as Acc 3055 in April 1990, Acc 3230 in March 1991, Acc 3608 in February 1993, Acc 4050 in January 1996 and Acc 6956 in March 2022. The collection was recatalogued in August 2004 by Hannah Jones with additions by Alison Smith in September 2022. A concordance of old and new references is given at the end of the catalogue.