A small Augustinian priory was established at Longleat at an uncertain date before 1235 and continued as a Royal peculiar controlled by the Dean of Salisbury.

[6] Close to the parish boundary on the road to Frome are the remains of Woodhouse Castle, where earthworks and fragmentary ruins, largely cellar walls, survive.

[7] In the 17th century, Woodhouse Castle was owned by the Cavalier Lords Arundel and consequently was attacked by Parliamentarians during the English Civil War.

[8] Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath (1734–1796), was interested in forestry and hired Capability Brown to plant large plantations of beech and pine.

Gradually forestry was established as one of the two main sources of employment, joining farming, and this did not change until the late 20th century, when tourism took over.

[10] Nikolaus Pevsner described Horningsham in 1963 as "a singularly loose village with houses in their own gardens, small or large, and no visual cohesion.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 abolished the prebendary, becoming effective on the death of the last canon, the Reverend John Nelson Clerk, in 1855.

[17] The parish was later expanded and renamed The Deverills and Horningsham; today it forms part of the Cley Hill benefice.

Non-conformity came to the parish in the 16th century, when Scotsmen were employed by Sir John Thynne on the construction of Longleat House.

Horningsham has the P's identified by Country Life as essential to a successful village: a pub,[21] a post office, a place of worship, a primary school and public transport (although limited).

Horningsham is the home village of the title character in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey book series.