Swarkestone is a village in the South Derbyshire district of the county, 4½ miles S of the centre of Derby. It straddles the River Trent, crossed here by Swarkestone Bridge, a 13thc causeway three quarters of a mile long that crosses both the river and the marshy lands alongside it. The church is on the N side of the river and consists of a nave with a 3 bay N aisle, a lower chancel flanked on the S by the 16thc Harpur Chapel and on the N by the Harpur room, originally added as an organ room in 1874-76 but recently converted into a small meeting room and lavatory. There is also a 16thc W tower. Remains of the 12thc building survive in the form of chevron voussoirs re-used as decoration in the N interior nave wall. The remainder of the building was restored by F. J. Robinson in 1874-76; the chancel partly using old materials. Features recorded here are the reset voussoirs and the font; a plain structure which could date from any period from the 12thc to the 14thc.

In 1086, Henry de Ferrers held Swarkestone with 1 carucate taxable. The King also held 1 carucate of land in this manor.

There is a good deal of disagreement about the date of the font. Cox has it 'probably of Norman design', Hartwell says 'C14 or earlier', and the List Description 'probably C14'. As for the chevron voussoirs, they are all of the same design and very large - Cox says they were doubtless from the former chancel arch, and it is difficult to see where else they could be from. He also mentions 'the capital of a pilaster, also of Norman work' but this was not found and is not noted in other sources.