Some evidence has been found of settlement in the Neolithic period. Roman artefacts have also been found nearby. The
Domesday Book of 1086 records three estates or
manors at a
vill listed as both
Adelinctune and
Adelingetone in the
wapentake of
Winnibriggs. The vill had a total of 73 households at that time, and two of the manors had churches. Allington came to be divided for parochial purposes into West Allington and East Allington. West Allington was a
parish, with its parish church dedicated to Holy Trinity. The current building dates back to about 1150. East Allington and neighbouring
Sedgebrook to the south were anciently
chapelries within the parish of West Allington. By 1535, Sedgebrook had become a separate parish, and East Allington became a chapelry within the parish of Sedgebrook. East Allington was served a by a
chapel of ease dedicated to St James. Parishes were given various civil functions under the
poor laws from the 17th century onwards. The chapelry of East Allington was jointly administered for poor law purposes with the parish of West Allington, rather than with the parish of Sedgebrook to which it belonged for ecclesiastical purposes. As such, Allington became a single
civil parish in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws. The two Allingtons were subsequently also reunited for ecclesiastical purposes in 1872. St James's Church at East Allington, the smaller of the two churches, was subsequently demolished. the name of ecclesiastical parish is "West Allington with East Allington", reflecting the historic split. The poet
George Crabbe (1754–1832) became the incumbent of
Muston, Leicestershire and West Allington in 1789, remaining until 1792. His
Natural History of the Vale of Belvoir was a pioneering study of the district.
English Heritage gives the date of Crabbe's Allington incumbency as 1790 to 1814, but he was an absentee for most of the remaining years. The Welby family was associated with the village from the 18th century onwards until the estate was sold after the Second World War. During the Second World War, Allington Hall became a military hospital. A prisoner-of-war camp in the village held German and later Italian inmates. The estate was subsequently dispersed in 1947. ==Amenities==