It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local authority boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.

The village is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Wantage and is included within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

[4] Arnhill and the nearby vicinity behind the village was an Iron Age fortification and Anglo-Saxon burial ground.

[7] An open field system of farming also prevailed in West Lockinge parish until it was enclosed in 1808.

[8] The farm is now run by Henrietta Knight and formerly Terry Biddlecombe, trainers of the racing horse Best Mate.