[2] It is also within the boundaries of the Pocklington Provincial ward of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, which elects three councillors every four years.

The population has increased in recent years due to substantial new housing developments on the south side of the town.

The Romans established a fort here about 70 AD, around which later developed a large linear civilian settlement focused on a bridge one mile (1.6 km) south of the present town.

The remains at Stamford Bridge were not known to them, lying undiscovered under arable and pasture fields until quite recently.

At Stamford Bridge King Harold II repelled the invading Norwegian force led by his brother Tostig Godwinson and King Harald Hardrada of Norway, but three weeks later his loss at the Battle of Hastings allowed the Norman Conquest of England.

In 2024, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council invested £350,000 in repairing the Grade II listed bridge and improving road safety, following years of damage caused by vehicles.

During 4/5 March 1999, exceptional levels of rainfall were experienced in the Derwent catchment area, reaching 125 millimetres (4.9 in) in 24‑hours, worsened by melting snow which had earlier accumulated on the North York Moors.

Just east of Stamford Bridge is the manor house Burtonfields Hall, built in 1837 by the architect Anthony Salvin for Charles Darley.

More recently the Cornmill was converted into twelve two-bedroom flats but some original equipment remains.

[16] Opened on 3 October 1847, Stamford Bridge Viaduct originally carried the York to Beverley railway line across the Derwent, closed 1965.

It consists of red brick arches on either side of a single wider wrought-iron span that crosses the river.

[17] The village school was first built in Main Street in 1795 as a result of a legacy left by Christopher Wharton.

1874 saw compulsory education and in 1911 the East Riding County Council took over and built a school on the present Church Road site.