The village is part of the civil parish of Barwick in Elmet and Scholes, sits in the Harewood ward of Leeds City Council and Wetherby and Easingwold parliamentary constituency.

[1] In the 1800s, Colonel Frederick Trench-Gascoigne (of Parlington Hall, Aberford) owned and rented out a large number of houses, mines, woodlands and farming land in the areas of Scholes, Swarcliffe, Barnbow, Garforth, Barwick-in-Elmet, Cross Gates, and Whinmoor.

[2] In the mid-1880s, a previous occupant of the Seacroft windmill, Isaac Chippindale, started the Scholes Brick and Tile Works on Wood Lane, on the border to Swarcliffe.

[3] Its kilns and house were demolished in the early 1980s, leaving two small fishing lakes, but is still known as "Chippy's Quarry".

The East Leeds Orbital Road, due for completion in late 2022, will also serve the village.