It was established before 1066 and after being largely in the possession of Fountains Abbey in the Middle Ages, it became part of a landed estate until the mid 20th century.

This, named Wheldrake Ings, is a mile east of the village, and is where many wild flowers flourish and rare birds prosper.

There is a primary school, a church, a shop with post office and a public house which serve 761 households.

[8] The resultant soils vary from thick clay to sand and alluvium and their fertility is consequently very variable.

Wheldrake is in the more northerly part of England and although it has a typically English temperate climate which is influenced by the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, it is slightly cooler than London.

[11] Wheldrake Woods in the north of the parish was planted by Forestry England and has mainly conifer trees.

[12] The open cultivated agricultural land is not species-rich but the hedgerows, field margins and roadside verges support some small mammals and an increasing number of grasses and flowering plants.

On air photographs an extensive Iron Age or Roman field system is visible as crop marks.

[14] In Saxon times Wheldrake was in the Danelaw area of England and so probably consisted of a number of scattered family farming enclosures.

In 1066 the land was held locally by a person called Norman but the overlord of the area was Morcar, Earl of Northumbria.

By the time that the Domesday Book was written in 1086 it belonged to William de Percy and was known as Coldrid.

From a nucleus of about 350 acres (1.4 km2) of land lying around a small deliberately planned village of 16 plots the cultivated area began to be expanded.

When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the land in Wheldrake which had belonged to Fountains and other abbeys was confiscated and granted or sold to private individuals including Robert Robotham, servant to Edward VI and Blanche Parry, servant to Elizabeth I, And Sir Thomas Le Carre, son of French nobleman Sir Henri Le Carre, close friend of Henry VII and former owner of Sheriff Hutton castle.

In 1778–9, the body of the village church was demolished and rebuilt in the Georgian style, although the thirteenth-century stone tower was retained.

From the mid 20th century as people became more able to travel to their places of work and to larger shops in towns by motorised transport, the village shops and craft businesses suffered a decline in custom and started to close down.

Conversely, people employed in towns found the rural environment attractive and chose to make their homes in Wheldrake.

Wheldrake became part of the newly created York Outer parliamentary constituency in the 2010 general election.

There is usually an annual exhibition by local artists and crafts people and two or three accept commissions for watercolours.

Farmers and a number of other self-employed people, including decorators, builder, joiners and plumbers run businesses from home.

A pub (The Wenlock Arms), a village shop with a post office, a hairdresser, and undertaker are to be found along the Main Street.

[citation needed] Wheldrake with Thorganby C of E (Aided) Primary School caters for children up to the age of 11.

[31] The school moved to its present location on North Lane in 1973 [32] from White Rose House, which can be found next door to the Church on Main Street.

The school has recently constructed an extension as the catchment area has seen an increase in the number of younger children and the original building became too small.