The district was formed as a merger of the abolished Kingsclere Rural District, centred on Kingsclere, and Whitchurch Rural District, centred on Whitchurch.
Kingsclere and Whitchurch Rural District was in turn abolished in 1974, with its area becoming part of Basingstoke District, which was renamed Basingstoke and Deane in 1978.
[1] The council had its offices in a converted and extended early eighteenth century house at 24 Swan Street in Kingsclere.
[2] The district contained the following civil parishes:[3] The northern part of the district was within the North Wessex Downs, which was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty shortly before the council's abolition.
[4] The district included Highclere Castle.