In the northern part of the parish an industrial estate on the former Swanwick Colliery site incorporates the Thornton's Confectionery factory along with other businesses.

[3] The settlement is thought to have begun in the vicinity of the farm above The Hayes (meaning "enclosure"), on which a number of ancient footpath routes converge.

The area was exploited for coal from early times, first with small pits in the locality known as The Delves (meaning 'diggings') and later with a major colliery in the north of the parish, which closed in the 1960s.

It was a substantial yeoman's residence of 1678, as evidenced by a datestone high up on the dormer gables, along with the crest adopted by the Wood family.

It originally was a three-storey, three-bay red-brick house with limited stone dressings built south-east of the Swanwick crossroads.

Franz von Werra, a Luftwaffe officer, escaped from here; he was recaptured at nearby RAF Hucknall, while trying to steal an aircraft.

The pointed arches on both sides of the nave and in the chancel imply that the architect, Benjamin Wilson, had Early English architecture in mind when he designed the building.