The village name 'Horwood' is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'muddy wood'. The affix 'Great' was added later to differentiate it from the adjacent village Little Horwood. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 792 the village was recorded as Horwudu.
The village was from ancient times on the periphery of the Whaddon Chase: royal hunting land that stretched across the north part of the Aylesbury Vale. In 1447 the village was granted Royal charter to hold a weekly market, thus becoming a market town. The rents from the market were collected by New College, Oxford.
Great Horwood is no longer a market town, but it is still a fairly substantial village in this part of the country.
A hamlet within the parish border of Great Horwood is Singleborough.