Allerton is mentioned as a settlement worth 2 pounds, 10 shillings to the Lord, Ilbert of Lacy, in 1066.

[1] A significant amount of the village, mostly towards the south, was built in the decades following the Second World War as council housing and thus it contains over half of the population of the Thornton and Allerton ward, towards the western periphery of Bradford.

The hospital became the Bradford Royal Infirmary (known as BRI to locals) in commemoration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

[5] The development had previously been cancelled following opposition from local ward councillors and residents, and remains controversial, due to its situation on a green belt site, and its overbearing reliance on the rural road adjacent to its eastern edge.

Dixon's Allerton Academy is situated at the far eastern edge of the village, close to the Rhodesway estate.

It is highly popular with dogwalkers, who frequent the paths that loop around the reservoirs, however the route can be more treacherous further north and upland towards the golf course adjacent to Chellow Heights and Heaton.