The name
Cheswardine, recorded in 1086 as
Ciseworde, in 1189 as
Chesewordin and about 1650 as
Cheswardyne, is probably derived from the
Old English for "cheese-producing settlement". Cheswardine was mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086, when the
manor was held by Robert of Stafford, but is probably a much older settlement, with the church likely being built on an ancient fortified site. Land north of the church was granted to Hamon le Strange in 1155 and a
manor house surrounded by a moat built soon after. The manor was rebuilt as a small castle between 1250 and 1350. Ownership passed to the
Earl of Arundel and Surrey in 1376. The moat, earthworks and some buried ruins remain, and Cheswardine Castle was scheduled as a historical monument in 1976. The parish church, dedicated to
St Swithun, overlooks Cheswardine from the hill at the top of the village. This is at least the third church on this site, and was rebuilt in 1887-1889 under the direction of the architect
John Loughborough Pearson, who died before the work was completed. The work was completed with the assistance of funding by the then squire of the Cheswardine Estate,
Charles Donaldson-Hudson, who provided half of the estimated cost of £8,500. File:Church of St Swithun, Cheswardine - geograph.org.uk - 23144.jpg|Church of St. Swithun File:The Old School and School House, Cheswardine - geograph.org.uk - 628779.jpg|The Old School and School House File:The Red Lion, Cheswardine - geograph.org.uk - 628775.jpg|The Red Lion public house ==Governance==