ARTHINGTON is a village, township and ecclesiastical parish formed in 1865 from the parish of Adel, 4 miles east from Otley and 7 ½ north-west from Leeds, in the Eastern division of the Riding, upper division of Skyrack wapentake, union of Wharfedale, county court district of Otley, archdeaconry of Craven, rural deanery of Otley, diocese of Ripon, having a station on the Leeds Northern railway, which crosses the valley of the Wharfe on a handsome viaduct consisting of 21 arches. The church of St. Peter, a handsome Gothic stone building, was erected in 1864 by William sheepshanks esq. and consists of a chancel, nave, transepts and tower with spire containing 1 bell: it contains a fine organ, enlarged in 1876, stained windows and a reredos. The register dates from the year 1864. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £152 with residence, in the patronage of the Rev. Thomas sheepshanks M.A. and held by the Rev. Percival Wood Hulbert M.A. of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge. The Wesleyans hold their services at the old school-room. Gas works have been erected here by the North-Eastern Railway Company, which also supplies Pool. The Leeds Water Company have several pumping engines erected near the railway station, which are capable of supplying 6,000,000 gallons from the river Wharfe to the reservoir at Eccup, for the town of Leeds. Arthington Hall, the seat of the Rev. Thomas sheepshanks M.A. is a handsome stone building in the Italian style, standing on an eminence immediately above the river Wharfe, the scenery at this point being some of the finest in Wharfedale: a wing was added in 1877, from designs by Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, of Cavendish street, London. Creskeld Hall, the seat of Francis Darwin esq. M.A., D.L., J.P. formerly the property of the Wentworths (now of Woolley Park), and previously in possession of Thomas, the nephew of Archbishop Cranmer, is an ancient residence, some portion being of the 12th and 13th centuries, and still retains the old ball, chapel and outbuildings of the original structure belonging to the Creskeld family, before they gave it to Kirkstall Abbey: remnants of the moat which a few years since surrounded it, may still be traced: adjoining the Hall are walks, from which some fine views of Wharfedale are obtained. In Cragg Wood is the well-known Har Rock. Francis Darwin esq. M.A., D.L., J.P. Is lord of the manor. The Earl of Harewood, the Rev. Thomas sheepshanks M.A. Francis Darwin esq. M.A. and Henry Wormald esq. are the chief landowners. The soil is rich; the subsoil is stony and gravelly. The chief craps are wheat, barley and oats; there is also a great quantity of grazing land. The population in 1871 was 387; rateable value, £6,773. The area of the township is 2,164 acres; of the ecclesiastical parish, 2,109 acres.

West Breary is a hamlet in this parish, 1 ½ miles south.

The Church of England school (mixed), erected in 1872, is chiefly supported by the Rev. Thomas Sheepshanks.