The parish is bordered to the east by the Trowbridge urban area and to the west by the county of Somerset, where the River Frome forms most of the boundary.

The secondary road from Bradford-on-Avon to Rode (Somerset) crosses the A366 from Trowbridge to Farleigh Hungerford near the centre of the parish, and most of the dwellings are near this junction.

[2] Domesday Book in 1086 recorded a settlement named Winefel in Bradford hundred with 12 households and a mill, on land held by Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances.

[10] Wingfield House, about half a mile north of the village beyond the crossroads on the Trowbridge – Farleigh Hungerford road, is a large building begun in the early 18th century.

The single-storey music room of 1899, to the north of the early house, is called a "good example of late C19" by Historic England[11] and described as Arts and Crafts by Julian Orbach.

[13] Camille's son Vincent (1856–1930) was an army officer who was involved in diplomacy and international finance, and a director of companies including Vickers; around 1895 he bought most of the land in the parish.

[2] Wingfield House was used as a hospital during the First World War, and in 1935 was donated to the Waifs and Strays Society by Bernard Caillard and his wife.

[22][23] Edward William Grinfield (1785–1864, biblical scholar) and Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859, writer) were educated at a private school at Wingfield, run by the rector.