Codnor is listed in an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, the great survey commissioned by William the Conqueror; a mill and church were mentioned, and also the fact that "Warner holds it".

The castle overlooks the valley of the little River Erewash, which forms the county boundary between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the now defunct section of the Cromford Canal.

The castle was the subject of an investigation by archaeological television programme Time Team - first aired on 6 January 2008 - which discovered many new facts about the structure, as well as unearthing a solid gold coin, a 'noble' of Henry V. At one time the village had a railway station (Crosshill and Codnor) which was operated as part of the Midland Railway.

The branch line was torn up when colliery traffic waned, and the only signs of it that are now left are a converted station yard and some embankments.

Codnor had three Methodist chapels, all in the Ripley Circuit, as well as the Anglican church of St James, at Crosshill.

These were quite notorious, and were even the subject of a short story - "Tickets Please"[3] - by local writer D. H. Lawrence (born 4 miles away, in Eastwood).