Hackforth was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as being in the hundred of "Land of Count Alan" and the county of Yorkshire, the population was estimated at 6 households.

In 1870-72 John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Tunstall as:"a township in Hornby parish, N. R. Yorkshire; 4¼ miles NNW of Bedale.

"[4]As mentioned in the gazetteer, Hackforth was the birthplace of Cuthbert Tunstall, who served as the Prince-Bishop of Durham on two occasions between the years of 1530 and 1559, during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

[9] The village is served by a primary school, Hackforth and Hornby CofE, with a capacity for 42 pupils.

[10] Hackforth has a public house, The Greyhound, and a village hall built in 1936[11] which has also been used as a live music venue since 2013, hosting acts such as The Dunwells.