Notgrove lies some 6 miles SW of Stow-on-the-Wold, on the S side of the main road from Gloucester to Bourton-on-the-Water at the head of a small valley. The church is situated adjacent to the manor house at the S end of the village. The church, which is mainly built of coursed, squared and dressed limestone, consists of a chancel with N vestry, nave with N transept and narrow N aisle, S porch and W tower. Part of the fabric, including the N arcade, dates from the 12thc., but the church was extensively remodelled in the 14thc. The Romanesque features comprise the N arcade, font and a loose voussoir.

Around 740, Ethelbald, king of Mercia, granted 20 cassati at Cold Aston and Notgrove to Osred, a member of the Hwiccian royal family. The estate, of which Notgrove accounted for 8 cassati, was subsequently given to the church of Worcester and in 1086 Shelin held five hides at Notgrove from the bishop of Worcester's Withington manor. In 1095, following the death of Bishop Wulfstan, Shelin's son Robert owed a relief for a knight's fee and later the manor of Notgrove was held as a member of Withington manor for a knight's fee.