History
It is listed in an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, the great survey commissioned by William the Conqueror. A mill and church were mentioned, and also the fact that "Warner holds it". Coalmining had a long history locally, and was, at one time, responsible for subsidence damage to some buildings.Opencast mining is still in operation today within the area and the land around the castle has also been subject to this. The farm and fields adjoining the castle is up for sale for housing development by UK Coal so any archaeology that could be there will be lost as so much already have through opencast mining in this area.
One mile east of the village centre is Codnor Castle; the original Norman earthwork 'motte and bailey' was built by William Peveril, (Peveril of the Peak, who also built the better known Peveril Castle at Castleton). The 13th century stone structure which replaced it is now in ruins. The castle was formerly held by the powerful de Grey family. The castle overlooks the valley of the little River Erewash, which forms the county boundary between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the now defunct section of the Cromford Canal. The castle was the subject of a 'Time Team' investigation - first aired on 6 January 2008 - which discovered many new facts about the structure, as well as unearthing a solid gold coin, a 'noble' of Henry V. There is now a very active preservation society for the castle.
At one time, the village had a railway station (at Crosshill) which was operated as part of the Midland Railway (the original charter of which was drawn up at the Sun Inn in nearby Eastwood). The branch line was torn up when colliery traffic waned, and the only signs of it that are now left are a converted station yard and some embankments.
Codnor also had three Methodist chapels, all in the Ripley Circuit, as well as the Anglican church of St James, at Crosshill. The village was also the birthplace of the noted Victorian phrenologist 'Professor' Joseph Millott Severn, who authored the book My Village: Owd Codnor and funded a set of alms houses in the centre of the village, which still stand to this day. In recent years, the village has had traffic problems, especially in the rush hour, and traffic coming into Codnor can sometimes be at a complete stand-still. This is because the A610 (the main road to/from Nottingham) goes through Codnor, carrying traffic to Ripley, and further places such as Matlock. Codnor also used to be served by trams; the 'Ripley Rattler' (so-called), used to travel between that town and Nottingham. These were quite notorious, and were even the subject of a short story - "Tickets Please" - by local writer D. H. Lawrence (born 4 miles away, in Eastwood). The standards, which had carried the electric power lines for the trams, and the later trolley buses, were not removed until the early 1960s.
Codnor is close to the larger communities of Ripley and Heanor.
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