The village is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, straddling both sides of the A722 on a hill overlooking Wishaw.

It could come from a corruption of Ninian, who travelled through southern Scotland, it could also be said to come from Nechtan, the name of both a Pictish king and a mythological Celtic figure.

Originally, the name Cambusnethan or Camnethan referred to the whole Wishaw area, and a portion of the Scottish county of Lanarkshire.

A great change is then evident by the time of Lanarkshire Sheet XVIII.NE, revised 1896, with Wishaw and Coltness particularly heavily developed.

This has been disconnected for almost 80 years with most of the track and bridges now gone, though some elements of the line still exist behind the telephone exchange and the social club.

Plans for a new, updated primary school have been confirmed, and in Summer 2006 construction work began at the top of Branchal Road, with the clearing of the local park and some of the woods surrounding the area.

The local sub-post office, which sits at the entrance to the Memorial Park (East Gate) but now is shut down for good.

A well-known local landmark is '"The Bing", well known for children to slide down it in a wheely bin or a bread crate, a large loose stone hill formed by extensive mining operations, which were active in the area until the 1960s.

Cambusnethan was a major coal mining centre at the start of the 20th century and, when it was all finished, the shafts were closed and the spoil heaps landscaped to create The Bing.