The village is on the River Itchen about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of Winchester.

[2] St. John's was rebuilt in 1867 to a Norman Revival design by the architect William Coles.

The church lost all remaining Victorian fittings when it was re-ordered in 2009; the pews replaced with stackable chairs, and the original floor covered with carpeting, leaving the church with a much-impaired acoustic, and a rather bland interior.

[citation needed] The Domesday Book in 1086 recorded that the manor of Icene (Itchen) was held by Hugh son of Baldri (Hugh fitzBaldric), that it had previously been held by St Mary's Abbey, Winchester, that the abbess claimed it, and that King William had restored it to the abbey; hence the village became known as Itchen Abbess which evolved to Itchen Abbas.

The village is the site of Sir Edward Grey's fishing hut, where he spent the night of 3 August 1914 before travelling to London to announce the United Kingdom's entry into First World War.