Swalcliffe is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) west of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The parish is about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) long north–south and about 1 mile (1.6 km) east–west. The 2011 Census recorded the population of the modern Swalcliffe parish as 210. The toponym "Swalcliffe" comes from the Old English swealwe and clif, meaning a slope or cliff frequented by swallows. The ancient parish of Swalcliffe was larger than the present civil parish, and included the townships of East Shutford, Epwell, Sibford Ferris, Sibford Gower and West Shutford.

Shutford is a village and civil parish about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The village is about 475 feet (145 m) above sea level. In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Shutford like this:"SHUTFORD, a chapelry in Swalcliffe parish, Oxford; 5 miles W of Banbury r. station. It has a postal pillar-box under Banbury. Acres, 640. Real property, £2,840. Pop., 386. Houses, 98. The living is annexed to Swalcliffe. The church was repaired in 1841. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists."