The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and means 'Hibba's boundary stone', referring to the boundary with Oxfordshire. At the time of King Edward the Confessor the village was in the possession of Tovi, thane of the king, and was called Hibestanes.
The manor of the village is remarkable because the boundary between the two counties runs straight through the middle of its parlour.
The parish church, dedicated to St Nicholas, stands separate from the rest of the village; this is a common occurence in places in this part of the country that had some standing in the pre-Roman Celtic period.