Yarm has a rich history. It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was originally a chapelry in the Kirklevington parish in the North Riding of Yorkshire; it became a separate parish early.
At one point it was a borough; this status did not persist. It formed part of the Stokesley Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894, and remained so until on April 1, when, under the Local Government Act 1972 it became part of the district Stockton-on-Tees in the new non-metropolitan county of Cleveland.
Cleveland was abolished in 1996 under the Banham Review, with Stockton-on-Tees becoming a unitary authority.