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The etymology of the name is derived from the Latin place name, "Cataractonium" looks like a Latin/Greek mixture meaning "place of a waterfall", but it might have been a Roman misunderstanding of the Celtic name Catu-ratis meaning "battle ramparts", as partly supported by the spelling Caturatis on the Ptolemy world map.
The place is mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia of c. 150 as a landmark to locate the 24th clime. It dates back to Roman times, when Cataractonium was a Roman fort protecting the crossing of Dere Street over the River Swale.
Catterick is thought to be the site of the Battle of Catraeth (c. 598) mentioned in the Welsh language poem Y Gododdin. This was fought between Celtic British or Brythonic kingdoms and the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia. Paulinus of York performed baptisms nearby in the River Swale.
Catterick is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Catrice. The manor was held by Earl Edwin at the time of the Norman invasion, and was afterwards was granted to Count Alan of Brittany. Thereafter the demesne manor was held by the lords of Richmond. The manor has been held by John of Gaunt in the 14th century and the Earls of Salisbury in the 15th century. The manor was held for a while by Sir John Conyers from 1484. During the reign of Queen Mary I, the manor was granted to the youngest daughter of Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, whose son Francis Barrington inherited the honour. The Barrington family passed the manor to Richard Braithwaite whose descendants inherited the manor and held it until the 18th century. Other lords of the manor included the Lawson family, who held it into the late 19th century.
Pallet Hill, just to the north of the village church, is the site of the earthwork remains of a motte and bailey castle. It is thought to have been built by King Stephen in the mid 12th century to control the Great North Road. It has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument. To the south of the village on the south side of the A1/A6163 interchange, is the site of a small Roman roadside settlement and cemetery on Bainesse farm. It has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
In later times, Catterick prospered as a coaching town where travellers up the Great North Road would stop overnight and refresh themselves and their horses; today's Angel Inn was once a coaching inn. A mile to the south-east are the surviving earthworks of Killerby Castle, a medieval motte-and-bailey castle.
Catterick was a large ancient parish, extending into three wapentakes (Hang East, Hang West and Gilling West) of the North Riding of Yorkshire. It included the townships of Appleton, Bolton upon Swale, Brough, Colburn, Ellerton upon Swale, Hipswell, Hudswell, Killerby, Kiplin, Scorton, Scotton, Uckerby and Whitwell. All these places became separate civil parishes in 1866.
In 1914 Catterick Camp (later Catterick Garrison) was established 4.7 miles (7.6 km) west of the village, in the ancient parish of Catterick but in the civil parishes of Hipswell and Scotton. RAF Catterick, the airfield to the south of the village also opened in 1914, was transferred to the Army and is now Marne Barracks, named after the site of two significant battles of the First World War.
In 1974 Catterick was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire.
Marne Barracks borders the village to the south along Leeming Lane and Oran Lane. The base and Service quarters are separated from the village by a protective fence. There are a few local businesses, such as take-away food outlets, local store with Post Office, public house and a Car Service Station. There is a sports ground which is used for Cricket and Football.
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