Up to the latter part of the 18th century the hamlet was devoted mostly to agriculture with an area of 2,608 statute acres.

[2] The name was recorded as Witfeld in the Domesday Book of 1086 A.D.[3] The Survey of English Place-Names records it as Witfeld (1086), Whitefeld (1226) and Wytfeld (1282)[4] The name element wit is from Old English wiht ("weight") which itself is derived from Latin vectis ("lever").

St James, Littlemoor, was consecrated in 1845[6] and is built in the Early English style, with tower and 114-foot (35 m) spire.

[7] When Glossop expanded, and the Howardtown Mills were constructed, Whitfield was subsumed into the new town.

In 1835 Whitfield church was extended to take the increased congregation, and a Church of England primary school was built in 1848; an infant school was added by Anne Kershaw Wood in 1913.