The parish of Wyck Rissington (or Wick Rissington) lies two miles S of Stow-on-the-Wold on the E bank of the river Dikler. The village is situated in the middle of the parish and may have originated as a ‘wick’ or outlying farm. The church, which marks the upper end of the village, is built of ashlar and rubble with a Cotswold stone roof, and consists of a nave of 12thc origin, a distinctive 13thc chancel and tower, a 19thc N porch and a N aisle. The church was extensively altered in 1879 under the direction of John Edward Knight Cutts. Romanesque sculpture consists of the remains of corbel tables in the N and S walls of the nave and the reset N doorway.

According to the Domesday Survey, 'Risedune' was held before the Conquest as four manors, but in 1086 it was united in the possession of Roger de Lacy, whose under-tenant was Hugh, perhaps his brother. It valued £7.5. In 1227 Paulinus of Theydon purchased two hides in the parish and the advowson of the church.

Frances Arnold-Forster states that the medieval dedication was to St Peter, but VCH says that the Bishop of Worcester consecrated the church in the name of St Laurence in 1269.