The village is on East Hendred Brook, which flows from the Berkshire Downs to join the River Thames at Sutton Courtenay.

Just over 2 miles (3 km) south of the village is Scutchamer Knob, the remains of an Iron Age long barrow.

The parish had five manors: The Heraldic visitation of Berkshire gives the descent of the Arches family,[2] originally D'Arches, Latinised to de Arcubus.

The Eyston family, heirs of the Arches, first acquired the property in the mid-15th century and remain lords of the manor to this day.

[9] The Eyston family were recusants who remained Roman Catholic following the English Reformation, and this has had a strong influence on the history and development of the village.

It has a rare working example of a 16th-century faceless clock, which as well as chiming and striking plays the Angel's Hymn by Orlando Gibbons every three hours.

The church has a Perpendicular Gothic square west tower, built in about 1450, displaying the put-log holes of its construction.

The Champs Chapel Museum of East Hendred houses artefacts, archives and photographs from the village's history.