The name Heanor derives from the Old English hēan (the dative form of hēah) and ofer, and means "[place at] the high ridge".

There is a church and 1 mill [rendering] 12d and 35 acres (140,000 m2) of meadow [and] woodland pasture 2 leagues long and 3 furlongs broad.

[4] Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of England, published in 1848, states that Heanor parish "abounds with coal and ironstone, both worked extensively, the collieries alone affording employment to more than 2000 persons.

The principal articles of manufacture are silk and cotton goods, hosiery, and bobbinet lace, providing occupation to about 800 persons."

The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, was "a very ancient edifice, with a lofty substantial tower, from which is an extensive view", though the dictionary noted there were also "places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Ranters".

The Market Place site had been part of Heanor Hall Park and the main focus of trading activity hitherto Tag Hill.

[18] It lies within the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield National Character Area as defined by Natural England.

[20] The Matthew Walker factory in Heanor Gate Industrial Park, famous for the production of Christmas puddings, was sold in 1992 to the Northern Foods Group.

The site of the former school was purchased from private ownership by Amber Valley Borough Council, with assistance of a Future High Streets Fund grant.

[28] Shipley Country Park, a steep wooded knoll bordering the south and west of the town, has a riding school and three lakes surrounding it.

It was then sold for intensive open-cast and deep-seam mining by what became the National Coal Board, before being restored and handed to the county council in the 1970s.

[29] Heanor Town CC fields one senior XI team in the Derbyshire County Cricket League.

[31] Langley Mill rail station, one mile (1.6 km) east of Heanor town centre, has services to Nottingham, Sheffield and beyond.

Earlier the Midland Railway had a line between Shipley Gate and Butterley that passed through Heanor, but it was closed to passengers in 1926.

The Great Northern Railway had a branch line that terminated in a goods yard and small station in Heanor.

Bus routes link Heanor with Nottingham, Derby, Mansfield and other towns and cities in the area.

[33] The district newspaper was the Ripley and Heanor News, it appeared on Thursdays but was amalgamated into the Derbyshire Times in 2021.