The origins of the village and its name are unclear; however, there is evidence of Iron Age hill fort and a Roman villa in the area.

The arrival of the railway in the 19th century and more recent road building have led to expansion of the village with Yatton now acting as a home to many commuters, while also supporting manufacturing industry and commerce.

The village is located on the North Somerset Levels, where the low-lying land, a mixture of peat, estuarine alluvium and low hills of sand and gravel, is crossed by a myriad of watercourses, providing a habitat for several scarce species.

Situated on an area of slightly higher, drained ground surrounded by moorland (locally called a 'batch'), Yatton was a well-established village by Norman times.

[9] Prior to local authority cutbacks, Bakers Dolphin maintained a replacement bus connection (route 66) between Yatton and Clevedon.

The memorial is located at Top Scaur, at the Congresbury end of the High Street, and is inscribed with the names of Yatton villagers who died in the First and Second World Wars.

[10] Each year on Remembrance Sunday a march is held from St Mary's Church to the memorial, where wreaths are laid by villagers and local organisations.

The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport and street cleaning.

The parish falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992.

[16] The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Wells and Mendip Hills constituency.

It appears to have been constructed in the Iron Age when one or more ramparts, with walls and ditches, were built on the steep slopes of the hill to defend an area covering some 8.5 acres (34,000 m2).

[18] Biddle Street has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest where management practices and the variation in the soils has resulted in the watercourses supporting a wide range of aquatic plant communities.

Where open water occurs plants such as common water-starwort (Callitriche stagnalis), European frogbit (Hydrocharis morsusranae), fan-leaved water-crowfoot (Ranunculus circinatus).

The calcareous influence of the underlying Compton soils also encourages whorled water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) and stonewort (Chara sp).

Also present are the nationally scarce rootless duckweed (Wolffia arrhiza) and hairlike pondweed (Potamogeton trichoides).

The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variations, but the modifying effect of the sea restricts the range to less than that in most other parts of the United Kingdom.

The south-west of England enjoys a favoured location, particularly in summer, when the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK.

[34] St Mary's Church, in central Yatton, built around 1400,[35] is often called the "Cathedral of the Moors" since it is so large compared to the village.

[44] Yatton Rugby Club was founded in 1968 and as of the end of the 2015/16 season, were promoted to the Western Counties North division, having won the Tribute Somerset Premier League for 2015/16.

[48] They respond to emergencies in a 62 square miles (161 km2) area covering Yatton, Cleeve, Kingston Seymour, Congresbury, Wrington and Blagdon, with an average of 130–150 callouts per year.

[49] George Lukins, also known as the Yatton daemoniac,[50][51][52] was an individual famous for his alleged demonic possession and the subsequent exorcism that occurred in 1788.

[54] Major Richard Foord, Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Honiton, lived in Yatton for nineteen years.