St Michael's Church in Lowther is cruciform with a central tower. The nave has aisles on both sides, but only the N arcade is Romanesque. The S nave arcade and early parts of the tower appear to have been built in the 13thc. The outer walls of the church were rebuilt in 1686, with further work carried out in 1856/7, particularly on the crossing and tower. Several Anglo-Saxon carved stones kept inside the church suggests that there had been a settlement here, or close by, as far back as the 8thc., but evidence for a church constructed before the Norman church has not been forthcoming. The buildings of the medieval village of Lowther, originally near the church, were demolished in the 1680s, and the village was moved to a new site by Sir John Lowther.

Lowther is not in Domesday Book. After William II took control of Cumbria in 1092, it was commanded that the region north of the River Lowther be under the spiritual jurisdiction of the bishop of Durham and his archdeacon. In 1101, this area was taken away from Durham and bestowed on the archbishop of York. In 1122/3, King Henry I founded a house of Regular Canons in Carlisle, but it was only in 1133 when the diocese of Carlisle was formed that the region become part of that see. The first mention of a church at Lowther occurs in the 2nd half of the 12thc., with specific names of rectors surviving from the early 13thc. In a confirmation charter datable between late February 1219 and early June 1223. 'Magistro G. persona de Louth'r' is recorded as a witness. The advowson of the church was divided into parts in the 2nd half of the 12thc., one part going to Carlisle Cathedral Priory, apparently given by Humphrey Malkael during the reign of King Henry II. Humphrey and his sister Hawise seem to be the first known persons connected directly with the church at Lowther. In the Pipe Roll of 7 Richard I, it is recorded that Gerard/Geoffrey Malkael, heir of Humphrey, declared that the Lowther land had passed to Henry de Wichenton/Withenton as the inheritance of Henry's wife, Hawise, and that Gerard had quit claim to the Lowther land. It is stated further that Humphrey had received his lands in Lowther from Hugh de Morville, who was lord of Westmorland at this time. In the Feet of Fines for 1195, one-sixth of the advowson of Lowther church was given up by Richard de Berburn (tenant of Henry de Wichenton) on an exchange and gift of land from Henry. In 1197, the priory of Carlisle also gave back its third share of the advowson (Ragg, pp. 109-11; and Feet of Fines, 1894). In the early-13thc., a one-third part of the advowson of Lowther church was in the hands of the de Thrimby family. Thrimby is a village sited on the edge of Lowther. People surnamed from Lowther (de Laudre, de Louther) appear also as witnesses in early records, the first known (probably the late 1170s/early 1180s) being Willliam 'de Lowdar' and his sons William and Thomas. However, the early de Lowthers seem not to have held any part of the church's advowson. In 1291-92, the total ecclesiastical taxation for 'Ecclesia de Louther' and 'Pens' Prioris Karli' in Ecclia de Louthir' was £36.6s.8p. There is a record of 'castellum de Lauudre' in 1174.

Divisions of rights and advowsons concerning Lowther and its church are complex. For an overview of this see: F. Ragg (1916). There are mentions of activity in Lowther during the reign of Henry II. These appear to accord with a probable date for the surviving Romanesque features of the church in the 2nd half of the 12thc., most likely sometime after Humphrey Malkael received land in Lowther from Hugh de Morvill. It was Henry II who demised the Honour of Westmorland on Hugh de Morvill sometime during the first half of his reign. Hugh was deprived of Westmorland about Michaelmas 1174, due to his involvement with the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and the rebellions of 1173-4 (Pipe Rolls, 1847, p. xlv; and Farrer, 1907). After the surrender of Appleby to Scotland in 1174, several persons implicated with this were fined, including Humphrey (Pipe Rolls, 1847, pp. liii and 162).

N.B. It has been shown that Hugh de Morvill of Westmorland is not the same person as the Hugh de Morvill in Cumberland. There has hitherto been considerable confusion about this.

Capital of Pier 3 : This appears to have been formed from 2 separate sections of stone joined together with mortar, each side carved differently from the other. Small sections of carving on the edges, together with the significant join means there remains uncertainty about the original arrangement.

It is not unlikely that the G. de Louth'r called parson (persona) of Lowther in the early 13thc., was the same person as the Gervase de Lowther who a few years later is referred to as an archdeacon of Carlisle Cathedral and an official.