Saddington was in existence in 1086 at the time of the Domesday Survey and held by the King. The Saddington family took their name from the village. The manor of Saddington passed to Sir Richard Sacheverill, Knight and in 1531 it passed to his nephews John and William Finderne and Henry, son of Thomas Sacheverill. In 1619 it was owned by Sir John Bale and by the time of the enclosure in 1770, it was owned by William Wollaston Esquire. Wollaston sold the manor to a Mr Evans of Nottingham by 1798 and in 1846, the Lady of the Manor was Mrs Dorothy Evans

Saddington has grown quite slowly. From 23 families in 1564 to about 50 houses in 1798 and by 1846 there were 279 inhabitants. Situated 6 miles north west of Market Harborough and 10 miles south east of Leicester, it covers and area of 1674 acres, 3 roods and 27 perches. Most of the land is pasture and the soil has a high mineral content.

The Union Canal was cut through Saddington and it is there that it passes through a tunnel that is half a mile long. Many fossils were found during the digging of the canal including ammonites, cornu-amonis, cockles, mussels and oysters.

In 1846, Saddington was already receiving its water from a reservoir which it shared with nearby Gumley and Laughton. It received its post daily from Kibworth and Thomas Robinson, carrier, went to Market Harborough on Tuesdays and to Leicester on Saturdays.

As well as the parish church there was a Baptist Chapel and near to the church there was the Manor House and the Hall. The National School was not built until the 1870s.

The main sources of employment in Saddington were agriculture and framework knitting.

A View of the Reservoir

For information about the people of Saddington, click on Family History

Sources
The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, J. Nichols
The Buildings of England, Leicestershire and Rutland, Nikolaus Pevsner Revised by Elizabeth Williamson
History, Gazetteer and Directory of Leicestershire and Rutland 1846, William White
Kelly’s Directory of Leicestershire, Rutland 1881, E. R. Kelly