The parish covers an area of 1,536 acres (622 ha) and has an average elevation of approximately 600 feet (180 m) above sea level.

The village has six Grade II listed buildings, including the 12th century St Andrew's Church and its war memorial, a farmhouse and a Victorian wheelhouse with a working donkey wheel.

A common misconception of the meaning of the village's name is that it referred to its situation mid-way between the settlements of Alton and Alresford.

[7] In reality this theorised etymology is totally false as names referencing their location in terms of distance to other places are very rare.

The earliest evidence of human activity in Medstead consists of a number of Mesolithic flint implements found in the north of the village.

During a pre-construction archaeological excavation in the Southwest of the village a small pit was uncovered which contained a flint arrowhead in addition to a potsherd which dated to the Middle Neolithic.

In the church there are some old Norman pillars of beautiful workmanship, and in an excellent state of preservation.The living (St. Andrew) is a rectory, annexed to that of Old Alresford, in the diocese of Winchester: present net income, £580: patron, Bishop of Winchester: present incumbent, Earl of Guildford, 1797: contains 2,530 acres: 78 houses: population in 1841, 450: ass' prop' £2,402: poor rates in 1848, £314.

[7] An underground bunker for the Royal Observer Corps was built in the village in 1963[citation needed] and was continuously used until its closure in 1968.

Around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of second hand track panels were purchased from Eastleigh for the Medstead and Four Marks section.

The surviving buildings at the railway station were dilapidated, with one writer from a magazine suggesting they be demolished and replaced by a bus shelter.

[22] Medstead is located in the eastern central part of Hampshire in South East England, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) southwest of Alton, its nearest town.

[23] The parish covers an area of 1,536 acres (622 ha) and has an average elevation of approximately 600 feet (180 m) above sea level.

[27] Medstead Church of England Primary School lies immediately south of the village near the cemetery.

[28] Under the Education Act 1944, the previous site of Medstead's school was declared inadequate as it did not have enough space to accommodate a playing field and assembly hall.

[23][29] A pre-school has been in operation since September 1989, located in the grounds of the primary school after a successful petition ensured its relocation from the village hall.

[34] The village falls under the East Hampshire parliament constituency, represented in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Damian Hinds since 2010.

The memorial is made out of Cornish granite and features a Celtic cross with a crusader's sword sculpted in its centre; it was unveiled on 17 October 1920 by Admiral Jervoise and dedicated by the rector of St Andrew's Church.

[42] Another Grade II listed building is a Victorian wheelhouse with a donkey wheel which lies immediately southwest of Southdown Old Farmhouse.

[43] Heal, Chris, Ropley's Legacy, The ridge enclosures, 1709 to 1850: Chawton, Farringdon, Medstead, Newton Valence and Ropley and the birth of Four Marks, ISBN 978-1-9161944-3-4 (Chattaway and Spottiswood, 2021)[7] Heal, Chris, The Four Marks Murders, ISBN 978-1-9161944-2-7 (Chattaway and Spottiswood, 2020, 2nd edition 2021).