Rodley village is not recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book, although several nearby places such as Horsforth, Calverley, Farsley and Bramley are.

The earliest uses of the name Rodley appear to be "Rodele", who was listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book,[citation needed] and "Redlega", who was recorded in Yorkshire in 1157.

[1] Part of the north-western end of the suburb is in what was, before the Local Government Act 1972, the Municipal Borough of Pudsey; a sign, next to The Owl public house on Rodley Lane, still notes this heritage in 2020.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the suburb, running parallel with Rodley Town Street.

Many of the stone-built industrial buildings and mills that once lined the banks of the canal have been demolished and replaced with modern apartments and houses, as Rodley has developed into a commuter suburb, being situated roughly equidistant from Leeds and Bradford.