The whole village, together with part of the adjacent Wensley Dale is a Conservation Area.

Until fairly recently there was a Methodist Chapel, a village shop and two public houses, but these have all closed.

The parish church is St Mary the Virgin in the Cross Green area of Darley Bridge.

The place-name of Wensley in Derbyshire is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ‘Wodnesleie’.

It appears as ‘Wodneslega’ in the Pipe Rolls of 1167, and as ‘Wednesleg’ in the Book of Fees in 1212.