Initially the village had few facilities. Doctors were often based in surrounding villages but there was no chemist here. Prescriptions were delivered once a day and left in the porch of a town centre bungalow for people to collect. One district nurse/midwife served a large rural area.

Even today, many older residents are registered with practises based in surrounding villages although an impressive new Health Centre opened in 2001.

A Bowls Club was formed in 1921, a Women's Institute in 1922, and the Beehive pub opened in 1932. Flower and horticultural shows were an important feature of village life ­even involving Percy Thrower, the original television gardener- as a judge. Few people had their own transport. The nearest railway station was at Bampton. Day trips in Jones' coach were another later choice.

The war years saw the extension of a railway line to RAF Brize Norton, as well as the arrival of evacuees from London, plus volunteer servicemen and refugees from occupied Europe. Some stayed on and later married locally. Prisoners of war housed in "Shilton huts" worked on the land and swelled the numbers of incomers. The extension of the air base under the USAF during the 1950s had a huge impact and resulted in many a GI bride.

Leisure facilities off camp were slow to arrive. In 1974 an open air swimming pool was opened in Swinbrook Road. This was replaced by a multi purpose leisure centre in 2003. Three years earlier Carterton celebrated both its 100th birthday and the Millennium with a two day party. Another success has been the football club, the only one in Oxfordshire to be granted the FA Charter Standard Community Club Award. People now enjoy a wide range of hobbies, sports and clubs with over 90 organisations listed in the Open air swimming pool Carterton Community Magazine in 2005.

To meet the needs of a growing population both the Anglican and Methodist first tin churches have been replaced and the Town Hall, originally housed in a bungalow, was replaced with a modern facility in 1983 on the same site.