 It lies on a small river called the Dover Beck which separates the village from Lowdham and which flows south-east into the River Trent away.Population details are included in the civil parish of Epperstone.Gonalston seems to contain the Old Norse personal name, "Gunnolf", + "tun" (Old English), an enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate.., so 'Gunnolf's farm/settlement'.