The nearest railway station is 2.2 miles (3.5 km) southeast of the village at Rowlands Castle.

[citation needed] Horndean expanded in the early Middle Ages due to its convenient position as a staging post on the road from Portsmouth to London (now the A3).

Sir Charles Napier Senior, father to the more famous Sir Charles Napier, who purchased a property in the village called The Grove but subsequently changed its name to Merchistoun Hall (named after his former home in Falkirk, Scotland).

Merchistoun Hall is now a Grade II listed building and serves as the village's major community centre.

Using the pool was a fairly unpleasant experience by today's standards due to its small size, lack of poolside space and most of all - daylight.

The easy access to the motorway has encouraged an influx of light industry to the village, most of it concentrated in three major estates, the most recent of which is Hazelton Interchange, built in the early 1990s.

The centre of the village has a 1960s built small shopping precinct which is home to specialist businesses, as well as a cafe, fast food and newsagent.

In 1992, Horndean was the site of the high-profile child murder of Helen Gorrie, who was found strangled to death after going out one night to meet local man John Corcoran.