[3] The village is east of the Trent, and thus was administered as part of Derbyshire from at least 1086[1] until the Local Government Act 1888, when it passed into Staffordshire as a result of boundary changes.

Stapenhill Gardens is also the location of the annual "Tulip Festival", an event unrivalled outside The Netherlands, although this has not run for several years.

Current and former pubs and bars in the area include The Copper Hearth (now a Tesco supermarket), The New Inn, The Punch Bowl (now a care home), The Barley Mow (new home of the BIS), The Crown, The Grove, The Dart (now closed), The Freehold Tavern (now a Chinese restaurant), The Plough (now demolished for housing), and The Elms.

Stapenhill is well known for its wide variety of shopping opportunities, ranging from major chain-stores to independent craft butchers.

The municipal cemetery was opened in 1866 with chapels and a turreted gateway designed by Lucy and Littler of Liverpool.