The village has a Saxon origin, around 700AD, and derives its name from the word "Gafolsman," meaning a rent paying peasant. The earliest known spelling was Galmetona, which is recorded in the Domesday Book.

The old rhyme "In eighteen hundred and seventy three, the people of Galmpton did agree, to hold a Gooseberry Pie Fair" dates the first known Fair, although records suggest that it had been held before then. Why gooseberries? No-one knows, but the Fair was held again 50 years later, in 1923, and then in 1951for the Festival of Britain celebrations. The Fair then ran annually from about 1968 to 1983, on the Memorial Recreation Field opposite Churston Grammar School.

In 1995 the Fair was re-launched as a street Fair where it is today, in the heart of Galmpton, taking advantage of the network of roads that can be closed for the event. It is run as an afternoon of fun for the village. Most of the stalls and events, however, are raising money for local charities. At the Annual General Meeting of the Fair Committee any surpluses are donated to local good causes.