[4] [5] There are three main built-up areas in the parish: the village of Knowsley itself, the southern end of the nearby Knowsley Business Park to the north, and in the south-west a suburban area including Stockbridge Village and the northern fringe of Huyton.

St Mary's is a grade II listed building built by the Stanley family in the late 19th century.

Its name occurs in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenulveslei in the ancient hundred of West Derby in South Lancashire,[16] and has been recorded as Knuvesle (1199); Knouselegh (1258); Knouleslee (1261); Knusele (1262); and Knouslegh (1346).

[17] There are a few notable entries in Knowsley's history: From 1895 the area was part of Whiston Rural District in Lancashire.

On 1 April 1974 the village became part of the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in the nascent administrative county of Merseyside.