The settlement (which includes the outlying hamlet of The Green) lies equidistant between the towns of Witham and Braintree amongst arable farmland, 4 miles (6.4 km) in each direction.
Remains from a settlement dating to the Bronze Age have been found in the centre of the village, including pottery and tools.
The name is supposed to have been derived from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "knut" and "ley" (meaning "nut pasture") and is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086 A.D.) as Nutle[i]a.
Of note is a small mediaeval stained glass window in the vestry, which depicts St. Etheldreda, and is set in a stone frame reused from an Anglo-Saxon grave marker.
[2] The local football club, White Notley F.C., was formed on 12 May 1950,[3] and joined the Essex Intermediate League Division Two in 1988.