It is variously spelt Erlestone, Herolvestone and Herolvestune in early records, possibly from the name of a local land owner.

[2][3] St Andrew's Churchyard is a possible Saxon site, due to its rounded shape and the presence of a spring beneath its nave.

[2] A middle-eastern gold coin was unearthed during cleaning work on the nearby stables, which implies that an individual from Harlestone took part in the Crusades in the 11th century and was buried with spoils.

[2] Harlestone may have been the subject of Viking raids in the early 11th century, and many plots are noted in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being of a "waste" nature.

[2] They continued to hold the manor in Harlestone until 1500 when Thomas Andrew of Charwelton bought the land, also permitting them to stay in their accommodation.

[2] During the English Civil War, the evidence points towards the majority of Harlestone supporting the Parliamentarian cause, particularly because of its proximity to the staunchly anti-royalist Northampton.

[2] The exception is the royalist Sir Lewis Dyve, then owner of Henry de Bray's Manor Farm, whose lands were confiscated and handed to the Andrew family.

Alongside many enduring internal pathways, road maps of John Ogilvy of 1675 indicate that the current A428 to Dunchurch initially fell to the west of Upper Harlestone, skirting down past Althorp, leading to Kingsthorpe in Northampton.

[2] In 1715, Thomas Andrew built Harlestone House, a grand neo-classical mansion on the edge of a lake, surrounded by heath parkland.

[2] In 1753, they also acquired the Bulmer Estate, which, when added to the sequestered lands of Sir Lewis Dyve, brought the majority of Harlestone under Andrew's control.

[2] Between 1809 and 1811, Robert Andrew employed the noted architects and landscape designers, Humphrey and John Adey Repton, to make alterations to Harlestone House.

[2] The house was demolished in 1940, but the Grade II* listed stables, the classically designed dam bridge and boathouse, and the paddocks still exist.

[2] Non-conformist religion was very popular in Northamptonshire, and land for the former Baptist Chapel in Upper Harlestone, now a dwelling, was granted by the Fifth Earl Spencer in 1873.

The remains of brickworks from the 19th century can be found in Upper Harlestone in the form of a large kiln, which provided local people with brick for building.

Harlestone Firs, a large wood and country park, lies just outside the village with a garden centre on the other side of the A428.