[1] Along with Butterley Works blast furnaces, part of the canal tunnel and its underground wharf were declared a scheduled monument in 2013.

Both the tunnel and reservoirs were constructed by the Butterley Company, formed in 1790 by Benjamin Outram (1764–1805) and Francis Beresford (died 1801) with William Jessop (1745–1814) and John Wright (1758–1840) joining by 1793.

The box could be lifted from the tram chassis and loaded directly into narrow boats or barges on the Derby Canal.

Initially the boxes were lowered with the aid of a large water bucket descending or ascending a parallel shaft to act as a counterbalance.

Reputable sources cited here consider the presence and mode of use of this underground wharf to be if not unique, extremely rare within the United Kingdom.

A partial collapse of the Butterley Tunnel in 1900 due to mining related subsidence split the Cromford Canal into two.

Rudolph de Salis was a director of Fellows Morton & Clayton, a prominent canal freight company.

The Midland Railway's Ripley to Heanor branch was built across the front of the western portal with a new section of tunnel passing underneath bringing the total length at this time to 3063 yards (2801m).

This 24-inch (610 mm) narrow gauge railway terminates at a station behind Newlands Inn approximately 100 yards (91 m) East of the Butterley Tunnel's eastern portal.