Historically, the village is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was placed under the administration of Lancashire County Council on 1 April 1974.

It is often cited as the geographic centre of Great Britain, although the exact point is at Whitendale Hanging Stones, near Brennand Farm, 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) north of the village.

The village is surrounded on all sides by the rolling hills of the Forest of Bowland and is located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The rivers formed the easternmost boundary of the territory of Amounderness in the 9th century and are cited in a grant made by King Athelstan to Wulfstan of York in 934 AD.

From the late 11th century, Dunsop was part of the ancient Lordship of Bowland which comprised a Royal Forest and a liberty of ten manors spanning eight townships and four parishes and covered an area of almost 300 square miles (800 km2) on the historic borders of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

[4] The 16th Lord of Bowland was revealed to be a Cambridge University don who specialises in the history of Lancashire, its place names and dialects and has ancestral links to the forest.

His Bowbearer, Robert Redmayne Parker, was in attendance, together with representatives from the Bowland Higher Division Parish Council, the Forest authorities, community leaders and other dignitaries.