In the year c. 616 AD, a mighty Saxon warrior, Rædwald, stayed at the site prior to a battle with Ethelfrith, King of Mercia.

Little more is known about the village until the 16th century, when it is recorded that it was a peaceful hamlet with 13 dwellings: The people who lived in Rainworth were farmers or nurserymen.

[4] The school is named after the naturalist Joseph Whitaker, who lived for most of his life at Rainworth Lodge[4][5] on Blidworth Lane.

The colliery provided housing for approximately 400 families and leisure facilities such as a football ground and lido (which was in disuse by the end of the war), along with the Miners' Welfare.

[6] The Miners' Welfare remains open, and has subsequent affiliations with the local football team and bowls club.

In 1975 killer Donald Neilson (the Black Panther) was caught by police officers helped by locals at the chip shop on Southwell Road East in the village.

The Mansfield area is part of the Ransom Wood ward and is represented by Labour's John Smart.

In the 2019 local elections to the Newark and Sherwood District Council (NSDC) – the Rainworth North & Rufford ward was won for the Conservatives.

Across from the Tesco on Kirklington Road is The Venue, a snooker club in the same building that used to house the old village cinema.

[11] This wind farm is on Newark and Sherwood Land in the nearby parish of Lindhurst, but is built within 400 m of the Mansfield District Council part of the village who had no direct say in the planning.

Stagecoach East Midlands is the area's bus operator; routes connect Rainworth with Nottingham, Mansfield, Newark and Sutton-in-Ashfield.

[12] The nearest National Rail station is at Mansfield, which is a stop on the Robin Hood line connecting Nottingham with Worksop; services are operated by East Midlands Railway.

[13] Blidworth and Rainworth railway station once served the area; it was a stop on the Rolleston Junction-Mansfield line and was closed in 1965.

The National Cycle Route 6 travels north to south from Keswick to London; from Worksop, it passes through Rainworth and into Sherwood Forest.

East Midlands Airport is located 28 miles (45 km) to the south-south-east in Castle Donington, Leicestershire.

Rainworth is covered by the Central ITV and BBC East Midlands TV regions broadcast from the Waltham transmitting station.