The parish includes the hamlets of Holloway, Milton, The Green, Underhill and Upton.

Unusually for England, parish registers survive from 1538 and are kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.

[2] John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–1872) notes two tythings in East Knoyle: Milton and Upton.

[5] A National School was built in 1872–1873 on land near the church provided by Alfred Seymour.

[13] In the 20th century this became part of the primary A350 route between the M4 motorway and the south coast, and took a straighter course to the east of the village.

[5] Pevsner described its chancel as "Norman in its bones" and wrote that its 17th-century plaster decoration, a "surprise and delight", "ought to be the purpose of a visit from every Wiltshire tourist".

[16] The building was further extended in the 19th century, along with restoration in 1845 by Wyatt and Brandon, and interior alterations in 1875-6 by Sir Arthur Blomfield.

It is now occupied by the Action on Addiction charity as a treatment centre for drug and alcohol dependence.

The parish is part of the Nadder Valley electoral division,[23] which elects one member of Wiltshire Council.