The administrative centre was Northallerton, and the district included the outlying towns and villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley, and Easingwold.

This area was the subject of a national habitat protection scheme as articulated in the United Kingdom's Biodiversity Action Plan.

These two vales consist largely of low lying and intensively worked arable land which is mostly used for farming.

[4] In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan county would be reorganised into a unitary authority.

Hambleton District Council was abolished and its functions were transferred to a new single authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire.