[1] The parish lies on the north bank of the River Skell, in a well-wooded valley.

Grantley Sawmills is a local employer, just outside the parish on the south bank of the river.

Grantley Hall, on the north bank of the river, is an 18th-century Grade II* listed building, built by Thomas Norton and his son Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley.

[2] The toponym, first mentioned in about 1030, is Old English, and means "clearing of a man called Grante".

[3] Grantley was historically a township in the parish of Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire.