The name Eckington is of Saxon origin, and it appears in the Domesday Survey as Echintune. The area became more developed from the mediaeval period with the exploitation of local iron and coal deposits and the growth of the manufacture of edge-tools, particularly scythes and sickles, and iron nails. Coal mining and associated industry continued well into the 20th Century and it was at the George pub in Eckington that the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Mining Association was founded in 1865.