Duffield is a village with a long history; visitors can take in the remnants of the Castle grounds at the north end of the village, or St Alkmund's Parish Church, which dates from the twelfth century.

The first written record of Duffield is in the Domesday survey of 1085, commissioned by William the Conqueror to catalogue his new realm. Duffield is mentioned under the name 'Duvelle'. There were then probably about 250 people living in the village – quite a significant number compared with about 1,000 in the town of Derby.

The oldest building in the parish is St Alkmund's Parish Church. It was built in stone in the twelfth century near the River Derwent bridge half a mile from the village, on the site of the original Saxon church of wood. Many additions have been made to it, most obviously the tower in the fifteenth century and the spire somewhat later.
Duffield Castle is a remnant of the estate of the de Ferrers family who originally owned the village; however, they lost their local possessions to the king in 1266 and their castle, if it ever was finished, was demolished. The mound with traces of foundations and a well is today administered by the National Trust.

There are several other interesting buildings in the village - Duffield Hall was built in the early seventeenth century and after belonging to various families, a time as a girls' boarding school and a spell as the headquarters of a local building society, has now been returned to its original function as a private residence.

Duffield is the first station on the railway line travelling north out of Derby and by the end of the nineteenth century many managers and chief officers of the Midland Railway Company made homes here. The large houses built then on Castle Hill, Avenue Road, Lime Avenue and Chadfield Road were built with them and their families in mind. Expansion of the village continued with the building of Broadway in 1927, in the 60s with the addition of the Meadows Primary School and housing around this area, and into the 21st century with around 100 houses being added on the site of the old Colour Works factory.

More information can be found on the Duffield Parish Council website of which this is an extract.