The first recording of Awsworth is in the Domesday book of 1087. In later years, the village and its population were involved in a number of different industries. One of the first industries to develop within the village was glassmaking during the seventeenth century. Mining later became Awsworth's chief industry, employing both men and boys from the village and neighbouring areas. To facilitate these industries, a canal and railway line was built through the village.Awsworth once had a station on the Great Northern Line from Nottingham to Derby, which crossed the Erewash Valley over the Bennerley Viaduct. Another notable viaduct included the Awsworth Viaduct, more commonly known as the Forty Bridges. Awsworth Through Time celebrates the development of these industries and the people who worked in them, and those who still live and work in the village and neighbouring areas.