Its name was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Edestoche which is Anglo Saxon and means Eadda's Farm. Nearby Addington was named after the same person.
In the mid to late Eleventh century the manor of Adstock was given by William the Conqueror to his illegitimate son William Peverell, who was listed as its owner in 1086. This suggests that the manor was of some value, or that its previous owner was of some prominence in Anglo Saxon society.
The village received a charter to establish itself as a town briefly in 1665 so that a market could be held there. This was due to the majority of the people from the two local towns of Winslow and Buckingham being infected with bubonic plague. The charter was removed, however, in 1685 and Adstock was reinstated as a village rather than a town.
The parish church, which is dated 1597, is dedicated to St Cecilia.