In 1086, when the Domesday survey was compiled, Bolton Percy was already a long established settlement with a church and a priest. During the Middle Ages it absorbed the lost villages of Pallathorpe and Hornington and covered approximately 2,350 acres. Until 1875 the village was at the heart of a very large parish and the church ministered to the outlying communities of Appleton Roebuck, Colton and Steeton. As the population of the parish grew dramatically in the mid-19th century, things began to change and the parish boundary was redrawn. A new parish of Appleton Roebuck with Acaster Selby was created in 1875 leaving Bolton Percy with Colton and Steeton.

The magnificent church of All Saints was consecrated in 1424 replacing the earlier church. Although many features such as the chancel screen and ancient tombs have been lost, the east window, although heavily restored, is original. From the 15th century the rectors of Bolton Percy held high office in the diocese and, reflecting their status, the medieval gatehouse adjacent to the Crown Inn once led to a complex which included a huge tithe barn and a large timber-framed rectory. The present Old Rectory was built in the late 1690s on the same site and today is in private hands.

The long-vanished manor house occupied a site to the north of the church and the Parish Room, opposite the east end of the church, was originally built as a schoolroom at the end of the 18th century with later additions. The cluster of houses around the church straggle out down Marsh Lane towards the river Wharfe. New houses have replaced the old timber-framed and thatched cottages but there are occasional survivals of 17th and 18th century brick houses. The railway station, just outside the village, was opened in 1839 and the (now redundant) new school, at the junction of School Lane and Main Street, was built in 1904 and designed by Walter Brierley.

Bolton Lodge, just outside the village, was a substantial house built by the Milner family in the early 19th century. The village today, although having absorbed a lot of new development, has not been swamped but, having lost its school and shop, has quite a different atmosphere to that of earlier years. The bustle of the late 19th and early 20th century when trades were plied locally and agriculture was the biggest employer has been lost but the village retains great charm.

Kelly’s Post Office Directory for the West Riding of Yorkshire 1877 gives us a starting point for the later history of Bolton Percy from 1875 to 2000. It contains brief descriptions of the gentry, local trades and crafts as well as information about the village itself. At this time an agricultural depression had gripped the area and severely affected employment.