The village of Bourton-on-the-Hill, as its name suggests, lies on a steep hill about 1.5 miles W of Moreton-in-Marsh in the Evenlode valley of Gloucestershire, near the boundary of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and (prior to 1931) Worcestershire. The church of St Lawrence (formerly, St Mary) lies on the main road through the settlement and consists of a chancel, nave with N and S aisles and porches and a W tower. Although the church dates from the 12thc, the only remaining Romanesque work is the S arcade.

DB records two estates in 1086, of 8 hides and 2 hides. The larger estate was held in 1086 by Westminster Abbey as part of its manor of Deerhurst and was by the 13thc regarded as a separate manor with the abbey's land in Moreton-in-Marsh. It was usually called the manor of Bourton and Moreton, and was retained by the abbey until the Dissolution. The smaller estate was held in 1066 by Wulfwig, a radknight (riding knight), and in 1086 by Gerard the chamberlain. Gerard's land in Bourton probably passed to the Harnhill family by the 12thc by which time William of Harnhill owned the advowson of Bourton which descended with this estate (VCH).

The pointed arches to the S arcade indicate that they were presumably rebuilt after the columns and capitals. Alternatively, they could indicate that this was a composite Transitional design around 1200 utilising elements of Romananesque and Gothic forms. The variations in the sheathing (minimal, long tapering darts, and prominent V-shapes) and bases (one Attic, the others plain chamfered) suggest that each was probably the work of a different sculptor.