Skeffington
Description in 1871:
"SKEFFINGTON, a parish, with a village, in Billesdon district, Leicester; 7¼ miles NNE of Kibworth r. station, and 10 E by S of Leicester. It has a post-office under Leicester. Acres, 2,132. Real property, £4,236. Pop., 244. Houses, 42. The manor, with S. Hall, belongs to W. W. Tailby, Esq. S. Hall was the seat of the baronet family of Skeffington, extinct in 1850; was the birthplace of Bishop S. and Lord Deputy S., of the early part of the 16th century; and is a large mansion, with castellated E and S front. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £670.* Patron, Rev. J.Davenport. The church is old."
John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72
- The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon Registration District.
- The 1851 Census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. The whole index is available on microfiche. The society has also published it in print.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2309 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3123 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2550 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Thomas a Becket.
- The church seats 168.
- There is a photograph of the church at the Wikimedia site.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1559.
- A Congregational chapel was built here in 1776 and rebuilt in 1850.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon Registration District.
Skeffington is a village and a parish overlooking the Welland vale, east of Leicester and between the parishes of Billesdon and Tugby and Keythorpe. The parish covers about 2,130 acres.
If you are planning a visit:
- By Automobile, Skeffington village is just off the A47 trunk road between Leicester and Uppingham.
- There is a lovely parish walk, documented at the Leicestershire government site.
- And there is a photograph of the parish at the Uppingham Memories site.
- The family of Skeffington derives its name from Skeffington in Leicestershire, where Simon Skeffington was seated.
- Skeffington House was likely built by Sir Thomas Skeffington, between 1560 and 1583. Originally a stone building only one room deep, it has been altered and enlarged over the centuries. The pleasant meandering garden is well worth a visit in its own right. At the bottom of the garden is the castle wall, bordering with the churchyard of St Mary de Castro. The gun-loops in this medieval wall date back to the English Civil War.
- The national grid reference is SK 7402.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- Here's a map that may be useful: Geograph.
- Or try this alternative: Geograph.
- And Cassini Maps is always useful for older maps.
- Skeffington can appear in several variants: Skeffington, Skevington, Skivington and Skiffington.
- The name is from the Old English Sceaftingtun, "settlement" (Old English tun) associated with "Sceaft", a byname meaning 'shaft', 'spear'. The initial consonant was modified from 'sh' to 'sk' under Scandinavian influence.
- It is of Olde English and Anglo-Saxon pre 7th century origins, the parish and village of Skeffington being in the county of Leicestershire. According to Ekwall's famous book on English place names, the derivation is from 'Sceaft - ing - tun', meaning the place of the Sceaft tribe. 'Sceaft' itself may be a derivative of 'sceap', meaning sheep, and therefore refer to a tribe who were famous for their sheep breeding. The village is first recorded in the year 1086 in the famous Domesday Book, and then in the spelling of 'Scifitone' becoming 'Sceaftinton' in the year 1192.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
120 |
| 1811 |
136 |
| 1821 |
169 |
| 1831 |
180 |
| 1841 |
187 |
| 1851 |
205 |
| 1871 |
231 |
| 1881 |
150 |
| 1901 |
173 |
| 1971 |
212 |
| 1991 |
178 |
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[Created: 28-June-2009 - Louis R. Mills]
