Situated between Reeth and Grinton, the place-name is from the Old English words Fremi or Frema, ing and tun and appears in the Doomsday Book as Fremington.
A village of two halves with Low Fremington built along the B6270 and dominated by the impressive Draycott Hall, once the home of Sir George Denys who owned many of the lead mines in Swaledale. A lead statue on a pedestal once stood in the front drive of the hall. A school was once located next to the main road and the old road to Richmond can be found just beyond Draycott Hall. A narrow lane then takes you up to High Fremington on the lower slope of Fremington Edge which still shows the workings of the chert mines above. From Fremington there is an ancient Roman entrenchment that crosses the valley proceeding parallel with the earthworks on Harkerside, arrowheads and a stone plough have been found in these earthworks.