The name Warter comes from the old English word "Warte" meaning old, gnarled tree. This may well have been the place where public hangings were carried out.

The village is well known for Warter Priory, a name actually associated with two different buildings neither of which now exist. The first was an Augustian Priory established in 1132 by a Norman family who were granted the land after the Conquest. Their name was Paganel, anglicised to Payn. The priory consisted of a prior and twelve canons at the dissolution of the monastery in 1526. Nothing of the priory remains now, its site is in the field behind the church. The second building was the seat of the lords of the manor which was at its height under the Wilson family who bought the estate in 1878. At this time they expanded the house and the grounds which extended to 300 acres with vineries, a peach house and 20 acres of gardens and greenhouses.

The old school building, now used for a play group and as a community centre was built in 1868 by Lord Muncaster who sold the estate to the Wilsons.