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Skeffington

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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".

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Census

  • 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.
1861R.G. 9 / 2254 & 2309
1871R.G. 10 / 3228
1881R.G. 11 / 3123
1891R.G. 12 / 2550
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Thomas a Becket.
     
  • The church seats 168.
     
  • Andrew TATLOW has a photograph of St. Thomas a Becket Church on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2006.
     
  • There is a photograph of the church at the Wikimedia site.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1559.
     
  • A Congregational chapel was built here in 1776 and rebuilt in 1850.
     
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Billesdon sub-district of the Billesdon Registration District.
     
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Description & Travel

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 DMS Files site.
     
  • And there is a photograph of the parish at the Uppingham Memories site.
     
You can see pictures of Skeffington which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • The family of Skeffington derives its name from Skeffington in Leicestershire, where Simon Skeffington was seated.
     
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Manors

  • 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.
     
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Maps

  • 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.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK741026 (Lat/Lon: 52.616126, -0.90698), Skeffington which are provided by:

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Military History

The parish has a beautiful Roll of Honour with silver lettering on a dark orange background inside the parish church.

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Names, Geographical

  • 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.
     
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Leicester county and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • This parishe was in the East Goscote Hundred (or Wapentake).
     
  • The citizens of this parish have elected to have periodic Parish Meetings to discuss civic and political issues and to do without a formal parish council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the East Norton petty session hearings the first Friday of each month.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Billesdon Poorlaw Union.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
1801120
1811136
1821169
1831180
1841187
1851205
1871231
1881150
1901173
1971212
1991178