[3] The settlement of Newsham predates the Domesday Book, although the name of the village derives from the Old English nēowan hūsum, which means New Houses.

[5] After the Domesday Book assessment, the land was in the hands of Count Alan and later passed to Minotts (of Carlton Miniott) in 1285 and then being seized by the Markenfield family by 1497.

[8] Another grade II listed building in the village is Newsham Hall, now a farmhouse, it once housed a boarding school in the early 19th century.

In 1870-72 John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Newsham as:"a township and a sub-district in Richmond district, N. R. Yorkshire.

"[10]Before becoming a separate parish, Newsham was part of the Kirkby Ravensworth, which also included Dalton, Gayles and Whashton.