[4] The earliest documentation of the village is found in the Domesday Book where it appears as Scopestone.

[6] The name is probably derived from the Old English personal name Sweppes, and the suffix tūn, meaning "Sweppi's farm or village".

Swepstone farmers regularly sold their cattle in local market towns.

In 1597 three Swepstone farmers, Richard Dudley, William Chilwell and Thomas Burrows were called to give evidence in an archdeaconry court case.

It is recorded that the three were drinking together in an alehouse near the market square in Atherstone while their beasts were tethered outside.