The north of the parish is on the Marlborough Downs and includes part of Milk Hill, which is the highest point in Wiltshire at 295 metres (968 ft).

The Woodborough Stream, a tributary of the Hampshire Avon, rises at Alton Priors and separates the two villages as it flows south.

[2] The area has prehistoric sites including the Knap Hill earthwork and Adam's Grave, a Neolithic long barrow.

[4] Alton Priors remained with the abbey until the dissolution, then passed through several hands until the estate was bought by New College in 1912.

The Wansdyke, an early medieval earthwork, crosses the north of the parish on the Marlborough Downs.

The nave has characteristic Anglo-Saxon features: typically tall, narrow proportions and (visible at the west end) long-and-short quoins.

[14] Alton Priors' church was built in the 12th century and retains its original Norman chancel arch.

[17] There is a distinctive brass plaque to local landowner William Button (1526–1591), with complex artwork and inscription.

[22] A team ministry was established for the area in 1975,[23] and today the parish is part of the Vale of Pewsey group, alongside 15 others.

[29][30] The Barge Inn was built at Honeystreet in 1858, replacing an earlier building, to cater for those living and working on the canal.

[32] The group ceased to run the pub in October 2012,[33] but it is still open, albeit in private hands, as of February 2024.

The Barge Inn at Honeystreet was a filming location for a 1998 episode of Inspector Morse, an adaptation of The Wench Is Dead.

In 2013 the white horse, Adam's Grave and the Barge Inn featured in an episode of Walking Through History, presented by Tony Robinson on Channel 4.

A Parochial school was opened at Alton Barnes in 1837 and closed in 1976 owing to falling pupil numbers.

In 1990 a pattern at Alton was used on the cover of the Box Set compilation by rock band Led Zeppelin.