Willington was listed in the Domesday Book as Willetune with the land consisting if two estates held by Ralph FitzHubert and the King. FitzHubert's manor passed to the de Willington family and later to the founder of the Repton school.
Willington was at one time one of the highest navigable ports on the river Trent and the Trent & Mersey Canal later ran through the village. The railway reached Willington in 1838, the station also serving the nearby Repton school. The station was closed in the 1960s but re-opened in 1995.
