Willington is situated to north of Repton between the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal in South Derbyshire. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 2,604, increasing to 2,864 at the 2011 Census. The parish is within 0.5 miles (800 m) of the Staffordshire county boundary and the village is about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Burton upon Trent.

Willington has several small industries, a large GP practice, dentist, a Church of England parish church and Baptist Church, a large modern primary school and nearby in Etwall (within Willington's catchment area) a large secondary school, John Port School. The village has plenty of opportunities for eating out and a range of useful shops.

The bridge over the river Trent at Willington was built in 1836 and was one of the last main road toll bridges in England. It was not made free until 1898. A settlement from the Beaker period was excavated in gravel beds by the river Trent. St Michael's church in Willington dates from the 12th century.

The Canal had a dramatic effect on the growth of the village and this led to the development of a small inland port. The arrival of the railways in the 1800's meant a gradual decline in the use of canals for transport and industry. Today the canal is now a valuable habitat for wildlife and is also now used for leisure. Mercia Marina was created from the existing Willington Lake and is linked to the Trent and Mersey Canal. It is set within 74 acres of landscaped grounds and is the largest inland marina in the UK and one of the largest in Europe; the marina is currently home to a tea room, shops, chandlery, workshops and a few narrowboat hire companies. Further development now includes log cabins and extended car park. The village has plenty of opportunities for shopping and eating out.

One feature of Willington are the redundant cooling towers of the long-closed power station. In the 1950s, two coal-fired power stations were built on a site off Twyford Road, between Willington and Findern. The stations were privatised and sold to National Power in the early 1990s and eventually closed in March,1999. Although most of the stations were demolished at the turn of the millennium, the five cooling towers continue to dominate the skyline of the local area. The site was earmarked for a large residential development, but the application was rejected. In the mid-1990s a pair of peregrine falcons nested in one of the site's huge cooling towers. Unlike many bird of prey breeding sites, this was widely publicised because of its impregnable location. They have since left.