Bishopstone lies on the north slope of the Lambourn Downs, overlooking the Vale of White Horse.

[4] The parish is crossed from east to west by the Icknield Way, an ancient trackway; the minor road from Wanborough to Bishopstone follows a similar route.

For much of the 20th century the road was designated as part of the B4507,[3] but this section – from the junction with the A419 in the west beyond Wanborough, to Ashbury in the east – is now unclassified.

[5] The land to the south of the road is within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

[3] In the north, part of the parish is within the New Eastern Villages mixed use development area, an eastward expansion of Swindon which will include around 8,000 houses.

The Swindon Borough Local Plan 2026, adopted in 2015, states that the character and identity of Bishopstone will be protected by a rural buffer.

[7][8] Elsewhere on the north-facing slopes of the downs above Bishopstone are medieval field systems known as lynchets,[9] described by Historic England as "in excellent condition and a good example of its type".

Bishopstone is not mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, when the area may have been part of the Bishop of Salisbury's Ramsbury estate.

[2] The present St Mary's church is built of coursed sarsen with some ashlar and has a two-bay chancel, a three-bay nave with aisles and a west tower.

In the north wall of the chancel is a small Norman doorway from the second half of the 12th century,[18] called "extremely ornate" by Pevsner.

The pierced parapet above the south aisle, and the arches of the arcades, are noted by Pevsner and Orbach to be similar to Highworth church.