[4] The use of the name Sixpenny Handley to describe the village and parish is fairly modern,[3] and was being used as an alternative name by the middle of the 19th century.

[3] The hundred took its name from this Handley and a place called Sixpenny, now a farm, in the south west of the parish of Fontmell Magna.

[5] Sixpenny was first recorded in 932 as Seaxpenn, and means "hill of the Saxons" (from Old English Seaxe and Brythonic penn).

[6] On Woodcutts Common in the north of the parish (west-northwest of the village) is the site of a four-acre (1.6-hectare) Iron Age and Romano-British settlement, probably a farm.

Well-wishers subsequently sent gifts to aid the villagers; so much clothing was donated that it was said a man could be identified as being from Handley because he wore two or even three waistcoats.

[9][10] Sixpenny Handley village is sited between 75 and 95 metres (246 and 312 ft) above sea-level in a shallow valley on the dip slope of the chalk uplands of Cranborne Chase.

The highest land in the parish, at over 155 metres (509 ft)[11] above sea-level, is in the north, where in places the chalk is overlain by deposits of clay with flint.

[14] In the 2011 census Sixpenny Handley parish—which includes the settlements of Gussage St Andrew, Woodcutts and Deanland—had 554 dwellings,[15] 532 households and a population of 1,233.

Sixpenny Handley is located on the B3081 road which has been described as providing "a magical driving experience",[19] and the village is a popular stop-over for touring.

Sixpenny Handley has several clubs and societies including Women's Institute, Mother's Union, bowls, tennis, football, cricket, cards, and Scouts.

The village's annual fireworks display is held close to Guy Fawkes Night at Church Farm Campsite.