[3][4] The first record of a vicar at Charlton is from 1306, and by that time the church had been appropriated by the nearby Upavon Priory;[5] in 1423 Upavon and Charlton were granted to the Augustinian canons of Ivychurch Priory, south-east of Salisbury, who held them until the Dissolution.

[10] The parish is in the area of Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority which is responsible for most local government functions.

[12] This establishment was originally called the Red Lion, later the Poores Arms after Edward Poore, lord of the nearby manor of Rushall in the eighteenth century, but the villagers had long known it as The Cat, from the ill-painted lion of the original sign.

The "Duck Feast", held annually at the Charlton Cat in the first week of June, commemorates his life and work.

The cost is met from the rent of "Duck's Acre", a field in Rushall donated for the purpose by Lord Palmerston.