It lies between the River Derwent and the town of Market Weighton at the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds.
It forms part of the Humberhead Levels, south and east of the Escrick glacial moraine at the southern edge of the Vale of York.
[1] The name may also be derived from the tribe known as the Spalda mentioned in the 7th century Tribal Hidage, which gave rise to the tribe or district known as the Spaldingas, the "dwellers by the Spald".
The Spaldingas also gave their name to the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire.
The village of Thornton was sometimes distinguished by the suffix "in Spalding Moor".