[2][3] The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Hardreshull, derived from the old English term meaning Heardred's Hill.

At one time there were several industrial tramways serving the local quarries and connecting them to the nearby Trent Valley railway line and Coventry Canal.

[5] There was a memorial to him in the form of the village bus shelter, which was erected in 1972, and was made from local stone and shaped like a scroll.

[8][10] The parish has five pubs: The Stag & Pheasant, The Malt Shovel, Royal Oak, the Hartshill Club, and The Anchor which is on the Coventry Canal.

Immediately west of the village is the Hartshill Hayes Country Park, which covers 137 acres (55 ha) of woodland.