The village of Polesworth has had a long and varied history. The centre of the village bestrides the river Anker at a point where the river has widened to form a shallow pool that provides an easy crossing point. This part of the river also floods frequently, making the land on either side more fertile. It is believed that both these features attracted the first settlers to the site, sometime in the Iron Age, and the pool itself later gave the village its name (from the Saxon pol, meaning "pool", and worth, "dwelling").
The village remained little more than small hamlet until the foundation of Polesworth Abbey early in the 9th Century. Polesworth thrived over the following centuries until, in 1539, the Abbey was voluntarily surrendered to the crown.
So important was the Abbey to Polesworth that, with its loss, it may have been expected that the village, too, would soon have been abandoned. However, Polesworth passed into the hands of, first, the Goodere family and, later, the Nethersole family, both of whom helped maintain and even improve the village.
If the Abbey was the first great influence in Polesworth's development, the second would most certainly be coal mining. Coal had been mined in Polesworth probably since the time of the Abbey itself, possibly earlier still, and by the 17th Century the industry had become firmly established within the Parish.
In addition to coal mining, there were numerous quarries and brickworks in Polesworth, which also hosted a thriving pottery industry during the 18th Century.