According to Cornelius Brown's 1896 History of Nottinghamshire, the village lies "very snugly and prettily ensconced in the midst of a pleasing landscape of North England.

This eminent family appear to have come to Elston from Lincolnshire towards the close of the seventeenth century, the manor being brought into the possession of William Darwin through his marriage with the heiress of Robert Waring of Wilford.

A number of new homes have been built within the last twenty years on once open spaces and there continues to be infill development on some of the large gardens.

Historic old buildings in and adjacent to the parish include Elston Hall, All Saints Church, the Old Chapel of Ease on the site of a mediaeval leper hospital, the Methodist Chapel, and Elston Towers, the Victorian mansion of preacher Robert Middleton, now refurbished as a day spa and renamed Eden Hall.

Erasmus founded the Lunar Society, which included Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Joseph Priestley and Benjamin Franklin.