Most of the village and parish sits astride the valley of an east-flowing stream which is a tributary of the River Nene.

[3] There are considerable earthworks around the village on the northern side of the stream, which indicate that Dodford was a larger settlement than it is today.

In 1222 the manor of Dodford was acquired by William de Keynes, who enclosed much of the land including a deer park which lay to the south of the village, between it and what is now the A45 between Daventry and Weedon.

Dodford has a Grade I listed parish church, called St Mary the Virgin.

Ashmole visited Dodford church on 15 April 1657, and his handwritten notes are now in the Bodleian Library.

This is a weak layout and the bells remained neglected and unringable for several decades until essential frame strengthening was carried out in 2007.