When Dutch Elm Disease came to England it killed the trees and now none remains in the village.

The Elizabethan poet Sir Thomas Overbury was born at Compton Scorpion Manor, just south of the village.

[1] In 1934 the Royal Christmas Message broadcast by King George V was relayed worldwide from Ilmington Manor, home of the Flower family, and introduced by 65-year-old Walton Handy, a local shepherd, with carols from the church choir and bell ringing from the church.

The house was the seat of the Canning family for many years, it is presently owned by the American lingerie billionaire Les Wexner.

[11] Ilmington has two public houses, The Howard Arms (a gastropub) and The Red Lion (Hook Norton Brewery).

These oral histories then provided the material for the creation of a play about village life in those days and the impact that events of national significance had on people's lives.

This original piece of theatre coincided with the four-day countrywide celebrations to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in June 2012.