The settlement can be traced back over 1,000 years.
Within the parish is located Gunthwaite Hall, former seat of the Bosville family. Its 16th century Grade I listedclose-studdedcruck barn is still in agricultural use and has been described as "one of the glories of the parish".[1] Also to be found nearby is Gunthwaite Spa, a sulphur-rich spring whose waters emerge from a pipe set in a stone recess by the side of Carr Lane. Here, the old practice of celebrating Spaw Sunday still survives to this day.
Gunthwaite was formerly a township in the parish of Penistone,[2] in 1866 Gunthwaite became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1938 the parish was abolished and merged with Ingbirchworth to form "Gunthwaite and Ingbirchworth".[3] In 1931 the parish had a population of 64.[4]