The village is mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as having 75 ploughlands, and its name derives from a combination of the
Old Norse Kirkju-býr (a village with a church) and Sigges tūn (Sigge's farmstead or settlement).[5] Sigston is also the name of a village nearby.[6]
During the 14th century, the parish was part of a huge deer park and hunting area on the eastern side of what is now known as the
Vale of Mowbray.[7] A
deserted medieval village (DMV) lies to the south of the church.[8]
The village has never had a shop, post office or pub, and its school, which opened in 1846 and would teach around 35 pupils, closed in 1944.[9][10]
Places of interest
Sigston Castle; only earthworks remain
To the north is the site of Sigston Castle, a 14th-century quadrangular castle, surrounded by a now largely dry moat.[11][12] South of Sigston Castle, near the
grade II listedManor House,[13] is St Lawrence's church.[9] The church is largely Norman but the tower was renovated in the 18th century.[14] The
grade I listed church is decorated with carvings of dragons, which
Pevsner states show the Danish influence in the area.[15]
^Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 279, 422.
ISBN0-19-869103-3.
^Mills, A D (2011). A Dictionary of British place-names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 281.
ISBN9780199609086.
^National Character Area Profile 24: Vale of Mowbray. Natural England. 2015. p. 11.
ISBN978-1-84754-301-1.