Beckwithshaw takes its name from the now smaller settlement of Beckwith, 1-mile (1.6 km) to the east.

The suffix "shaw", first recorded in 1323, is from the Old English sceaga, meaning a copse.

In 2019, it will be drained so that it only contains 176,573 cubic feet (5,000 m3) of water to relieve pressure on the dam head and will also be converted into a wildlife area.

[6] The village has a primary school, a pub (The Smiths Arms) and the Anglican Church of St Michael and All Angels.

A board in the church names all the vicars, the first being Charles Farrar Forster, who served from 1887 until his death in August 1894.