Great Witcombe is a small rural parish lying in the Severn plain at the bottom of the Cotswold scarp about 9 km SSW of Cheltenham. It is best known for the large high status Roman villa discovered in 1818 and now in the care of English Heritage. The church of St Mary is situated on a level site in the centre of the small village. The building consists of a late 12thc nave and chancel built with squared and dressed limestone, a N aisle added in the 15thc, and W tower rebuilt in the 18thc. The chancel arch is Romanesque and there are Romanesque sculptural fragments incorporated in the S wall of the chancel.

The manor is not recorded in Domesday Book, and little seems to be known about the medieval history of the settlement.

The Historic England listing suggests that the fragments of 12thc sculpture incorporated in the S chancel wall might indicate that it has been partially rebuilt. The aisle is set at a slight angle to the nave so as to accommodate the passageway between the chancel and the aisle.