The name Swanwick is derived from the Old English "Swana" meaning herdsmen, and "wic" meaning a group of buildings. The settlement is thought to have begun in the vicinity of the farm above The Hayes (meaning "enclosure"), on which a number of ancient footpath routes converge. It is first mentioned in 1304 in Sir Thomas Chaworth's grants to Beauchief Abbey. Sir Thomas was the Lord of the Manor of Alfreton, which encompassed Swanwick. The area was exploited for coal from early times, first with small pits in the locality known as The Delves (meaning 'diggings') and later with a major colliery in the north of the parish, which closed in the 1960s.