In 1675, John Ogilby compiled the first proper road map of England - previous ones had been of little practical use. He called himself ‘Cosmographer to the King, Charles II’.

On his map, the only road in Derbyshire is shown going through Hognaston, when it would have been little more than a cart track. Ogilby measured the distance not only in miles but furlongs as well, all this with nothing more to help than a wheel geared to a counting device.

People have lived on the site of the village for at least a thousand years (the village was entered in the Domesday book as Ochenaueston : King's land). It is probable that the site was inhabited in Roman times (evidence of possible lead smelting has been found from this era) and it probably stood on the main Roman road to Little Chester.

It was a thriving community when the coaches ran through the village from London to Manchester in the seventeenth century, when the village boasted three inns, instead of the current one, the Red Lion, which has stood at least since those days.

More recently, in 1997, John F Kennedy, jr stayed at the inn with his wife, Carolyn Bessette, when they attended a local wedding.