The Parish of Ockbrook and Borrowash lies in the County of Derbyshire one mile from the eastern boundary of the City of Derby. It is set in a predominately rural location, bisected by the A52 trunk road, three miles west of the M1 Junction 25. It is in the Erewash Borough.

The two villages with the Parish have separate identities. Ockbrook, now the smaller of the two, was for centuries, the major settlement. Ockbrook folk made their living by farming until framework knitting and stocking making became important industries in the 18th and 19th centuries. Roman remains have been discovered in the Parish, evidence that there has been settlement in the area for at least two centuries.