It is said, probably apocryphally, to have been the place that King John fled to after signing Magna Carta, from which it derives its name.

It is rich in fossils, particularly of oligocene fish and mesolithic artifacts in a rocky outcrop known as the Osborne Beds.

The Quay is a causeway which is breached in one place leading to a stone bridge.

During the Middle Ages, King's Quay and the adjoining Meads Hole to the north in Osborne Bay was the site of a market of stolen goods, the plunder of Isle of Wight pirates upon French and Spanish shipping.

It is inaccessible to the public, but can be approached from the south western end by Forestry Commission land at Woodhouse Copse.