The origins of the parish church of St Wystan in Repton, Derbyshire are in Repton Abbey, a Saxon Benedictine abbey founded by the Mercian royal family, the crypt being the burial place of several Mercian kings and princes. The abbey was destroyed in 873 by the Great Heathen Army which seized Repton. About fifty years after the Vikings departed work began to restore the ruins of the abbey as a church, dedicated to St Wystan. Most of the church had to be rebuilt.
The church has been rebuilt and modified a number of times. The West tower and spire were added to the church in 1340. The nave and aisles were rebuilt and widened in the 13th and 14th centuries. A clerestory was added to the nave in the 15th century.
