The Cotswold village of Lower Swell lies 1 mi W of Stow-on-the-Wold in NE Gloucestershire, near the Fosse Way on the main road between Stow and Gloucester. The church of St Mary the Virgin, which is situated to the N of the village, originally consisted of a 12thc. nave and chancel. In 1852 a large N aisle was added, and a new chancel was built in 1870, making the original nave and chancel into a S aisle and chapel respectively. The 12thc. church was built in ashlar. Remaining Romanesque features include a string course to E and W, corbel table, S doorway, original chancel arch and S chancel window. There are also sculptural fragments in the external S wall of the former nave.

Before the Norman Conquest Lower Swell was part of the estate belonging to Ernesi, and in 1086 it was divided between two tenants in chief, Ralph de Tony, who held the larger part, and William of Eu. The overlordship of Ralph de Tony's estate passed in the 13thc. and 14thc. with the earldom of Gloucester. The undertenant in 1086, Drew son of Poyntz, was succeeded by his brother Simon, to whose descendants the estate passed until the manor was sold to Richard, Earl of Cornwall by Nicholas Poyntz. In 1257 the earl gave the Cistercian abbey of Hailes most of his property in Lower Swell which comprised more than what he bought from Nicholas Poyntz and may have included part at least of William of Eu's Domesday estate (VCH).

This is an unusually ornate building for a relatively small settlement and must have had lavish resourcing, not least as it incorporates a significant amount of ashlar as well as sculpture. The chancel arch in particular is a veritable tour de force of sculptural motifs, both figurative and geometrical. The fieldworker suggests it is of the 12thc. Given the similarities between the chancel arch and S door (for instance in the bases), they appear to be contemporary. It is likely that the tympanum sculpture represents the Tree of life, although it appears to be unfinished; why, is not known.

The original position of the carved chevron blocks reset in the S wall of the former nave may have been as part of a corbel table in that wall, part of which was rebuilt to accommodate a rood stair, which was subsequently removed.

The filedworker described corbel N4 as 'Foliage enclosing ball'; however, detailed inspection of the image indicates that this is a human face.