It has a medieval church and a close connection to fine art and pottery, being the later life home of artist George Frederic Watts.

Central to the village are the Watts Gallery, the cemetery chapel commissioned by his wife for him, two inns and the parish church.

The maximum elevation is on the Hog's Back at 152m, the minimum at a small brook flowing east of the village centre, at its lowest on outflow at 45m above sea level.

[3] Relics from the structure of the tower of the village's church, St Nicholas', suggest that the area was settled during the period of Roman occupation of Britain.

For example, the influence of the Normans can be seen in the arches, the timber roofing (thought to date back to 1165) and the unique carved wooden screen in the chancel.

[7] The manor of Field Place was bought in 1709 by the London publisher Samuel Manship (1665-1720), passing to his widow Anne and then their son John.

The Compton Potters' Arts Guild was formed in 1899 by Mary Fraser-Tytler (her name before marriage to G. F. Watts) and initially used a source of local clay discovered during the building of Limnerslease.

Made of local clay from the foundations of her pottery, sculptor Jon Edgar's Compton Triptych[13] was unveiled in November 2011.

Arthur Conan Doyle's novels Sir Nigel and The White Company refer to certain characters as being buried in Compton Church.