King Alfred was born in 849 AD in Wantage at a time when it was an important Saxon centre. The town's buildings are mostly 17th and 18th Century with narrow cobbled streets and passages.

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, part of which is 13th Century contains tombs of the Fitzwarren family into which Dick Whittington, four times Lord Mayor of London, married. Wantage lies at the foot of the Downs, where the famous White Horse is carved into the chalk hillside. There are numerous racing stables in surrounding villages and for any keen walker with an interest in history, the Ridgeway can be found nearby with glorious views across one of England's noted beauty spots, it cannot fail to impress. Wantage is also in the heart of an area of high technology close to AEA Technology, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Culham Laboratory, Esso Research Centre and the Williams Motor Racing Centre in Europe's second largest village, Grove.

Wantage has a thriving social life with many clubs and local organisations. Music is important with a brass band in the first division and an operatic society. A month long festival of music and arts is held in June and July. There is a Dickensian Evening before Christmas when shops open late and the Town Mayor and Town Crier lead the townspeople and visitors around the town.