The river valley was formed during the last Ice Age. At that time, the ground was frozen all year round. Frost acts on rocks and soil breaking it up into smaller particles. When rain fell on this frozen soil it ran off rapidly. The combination of these two activities carved out the river valley. The soil was broken into small pieces which were washed away by the rain which could not soak into the frozen ground.

The lower part of the River Meon was once a tributary of the ancient Solent River which once flowed eastwards from Dorset to East Sussex. At this time the Isle of Wight was part of the mainland.

Settlement along the river has seen the river's water and flow used for many purposes. The energy of its flow has been used to power mills for iron working, wool processing ( fulling mills) paper making, tanning leather, flour and grist milling. It has also been used to generate electricity.

The water from the river has been used to irrigate crops. In several places water meadows were established. Water was lead onto the nearby meadows in winter and then fed back into the main channel. This kept the ground warmer and enabled grass for animal feed to grow earlier in the spring. In some places along the river, it divides into several channels before rejoining into one main channel. These channels sometimes have been originally man made as the river was diverted for irrigation or to form a mill race.

South of Titchfield, a canal was built so that water from the river enabled boats and small sea going ships to sail up to Titchfield from the Solent.

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