It is in the civil parish of Shedfield, comprising about two square kilometres of land to the south-east of Bishop's Waltham.

[1] Previously a forest used for the hierarchy of Bishop's Waltham to hunt game, the village started to establish its own, independent identity in the 19th century.

The village has a primary school - St John the Baptist CoE; older children attend Swanmore College nearby.

[2] According to the ONS (from the 2021 census) the population of the whole Winchester LSOA (Lower Layer Super Output Areas) - "Winchester 012F" area which includes both Waltham Chase and most of Shirrell Heath was 2,830.

[3] There is an SSSI site (unit ID 1007744) within the village, Waltham Chase Meadows - "one of the best examples in the county of dry neutral unimproved pasture.