Gildersome is one of the highest parts of the Leeds district area at 561 feet above sea level (Hart Hill).

Gildersome has many services such as a library, doctor's, fast food restaurants, laundrette and a small Co-op store.

The research of the English Place-Name Society established that the name derives from the Old Norse words gildi ('banquet, tax, guild') and húsum ('houses', the dative plural form of hús, 'house).

[2]: 48 This etymology supersedes older guesses, including the 1913 opinion of Armitage Goodall that the first element was the archaic northern English dialect word gill ('stream, ravine, narrow valley'),[3] and the earlier idea that Gildersome derived from a Dutch place name such as *Guelderzoom referring to immigrants from Guelderland.

Through grants, volunteering schemes and assistance from various sources, the graveyard has also been converted into a community garden, which encourages local school children to learn more about the environment and nature.

Turton Hall in Gildersome (now three residential dwellings) was a prominent and wealthy school, for higher education pupils, during the 1700s.

The hall returned to private ownership in 1879, and remains a Grade II listed building, with several TPOs (tree preservation orders) covering the grounds.

One was on the Great Northern Railway line from Wakefield to Bradford which ran at the turn of the 20th century, and it was located at the crossroads at the top of the village (towards Morley).

A lot of the original mining locations remain, such as the 'brownhills', a large area of land which separates Gildersome from neighbouring Drighlington.

On 4 February 1974, the village and surrounding area gathered widespread national attention, as result of the M62 coach bombing: 12 people including soldiers and members of their families, died in the incident, which the media claimed to be the work of the IRA.