There is a good range of local shops and facilities spread throughout the village.  It still enjoys easy access and open views to common land at Ravenscroft and Ham and easy access to Leckhampton Hill and beyond.

 The village of Charlton Kings can trace its origins back to the Iron Age. The village has a long history of local identity and in more recent times was managed by a Victorian local board which was replaced in the late 19^th Century by the Charlton Kings Urban District Council.  This functioned until the 1974 Local Government reorganisation.  This review saw the authority abolished and responsibility for Charlton Kings was taken over by Cheltenham Borough Council.

Charlton Kings Parish council is comparatively young having been formed in 1995 following a local campaign to regain some local autonomy.  Today it exists to serve the local community and acts as the first port of call for many queries and enquiries about Local Government services. Although the majority of services are carried out by other tiers of Local Government who have specific responsibilities granted under statute the Parish has an increasingly important role to play as Central Government seeks to give local communities a role in determining local priorities and need.  Charlton Kings Parish council sees its role as championing the needs of the local community in identifying and pressing for action in the service programmes of providers who deliver our day to day services such as highways, parks and open spaces, refuse collection, planning etc.  The Parish council also has a role to respond to service providers in order to shape policies which affect our future.  The Parish council plays a key role in monitoring the standards achieved by these service providers.