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Upper Swell is a township, parish and small village, 1 mile north-west from Stow-on-the-Wold, 4 north-west from the Addlestrop station on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway, and 5 south-west from Moreton-in-Marsh, in Upper Slaughter Hundred, Stow-on-the-Wold Union, East Gloucestershire, in Gloucester archdeaconry, and Gloucester and Bristol bishopric. It is situated on the high road from Stow to Tewkesbury. The church is an old building, though partially restored in 1841; the chancel, arch and doorway, are of Norman architecture. It is supposed that some battle was fought in the neighbourhood, from the circumstance of the extremely large collection of human remains found in every part of the churchyard, and which could not be those of so small a population as the parish contains. The church consists of nave and chancel. The living is a rectory, worth £9 yearly, with residence and about 5 acres of glebe land, in the gift of Charles Van Notten Pole, Esq., of Wick Hill House; the Rev. Watson Buller Van Notten Pole, B.A., is the incumbent. There is a day school for the children. There is the remains of a very ancient tomb, situated on an eminence, surrounded with trees, a short distance west of the village, containing many human remains. The structure is of very rude workmanship, though evidently constructed with some degree of care. It has become much defaced of late years. The population, in 1851, was 83, and the acreage is 1,294. The soil is a stone brash. Charles Van Notten Pole, Esq., is lord of the manor and chief landowner.

Pole Rev. Watson Buller Van Notten, B.A. (rector)
Cook Thomas, farmer, Fox farm
Gardiner Charles, farmer
Mathew – , miller
Smith Robert, farmer

Letters through Stow, which is also the nearest money order office.

Source: Post Office Directory of Gloucestershire with Bath and Bristol. Printed and Published by Kelly and Co., 19, 20 & 21, Old Boswell Court, St. Clement’s, Strand, London. 1856.