[1] By the late 600s Edgyth (Editha), Athea and Osgyth had established hermitages at Polesworth from which the village and Benedictine Abbey developed.

The detail of this early foundation was incorporated into the twelfth-century hagiographical Life of St Modwynn of Burton upon Trent.

[2] In 1066, Sir Robert Marmion expelled the nuns from Polesworth, but after seeing a vision of St. Edith, he allowed them to return; in 1242, King Henry III granted the abbey a weekly market, as well as an annual fair for St Margaret.

The site of the Abbey is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, although apart from the church and the gatehouse and the restored ruins of the cloister very little remains visible.

Later Sir Henry Goodere was a patron of the arts and leader of the Polesworth Group of poets, which included his protégé Michael Drayton.