The village is on the south bank of the River Ure between Masham and West Tanfield.

Whilst Mickley is not mentioned in the Domesday Book (although neighbouring Azerley is), the village name is recorded as far back as the 12th century as Michelhach, a combination of Michel and Haga, meaning Great Enclosure.

[1][2] The village was historically in the township of Azerley in the ecclesiastical parish of Kirkby Malzeard, in the wapentake of Claro, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

[7] A Wesleyan chapel was built in the village in 1815, followed in 1841, by the Church of St John the Evangelist, an Anglican place of worship.

The church is still a place of worship and is a grade II listed building in the Early English style.