The Duke of Bedford commissioned the building of Saint Mary's Church between 1865 and 1868. The English architect Henry Clutton designed the church in the Romanesque style, inspired by French medieval architecture. This was Clutton's second grand church project for his patron, after Tavistock Russell estate. Though he won a competition to design a cathedral at Lille, that project was never realized. Woburn Abbey became his compensation, serving as a model of a French Gothic cathedral.