In old documents the name of the village is spelled Adelington or Athelynton, indicating that it was a Saxon settlement. Its name means the home of Athel, a Northumbrian prince. From Domesday until recent times it was a combination of two parishes, east and west Allington, supporting two Anglican churches and a Methodist chapel. St. James' church was demolished in 1947 and all that remains is the graveyard and a stone cross. The Methodist chapel was demolished in 1938. The surviving church, Holy Trinity, was originally the church of west Allington.
The village was owned by the Welby family for nearly two hundred years. Hence the name of the public house, The Welby Arms. The estate was sold after the second world war and the provision of mains water in 1948 and mains sewerage in 1952 paved the way for new building. There is a central village green (pictured above) with a General Store, the afore-mentioned pub (which boasts a superb restaurant and provides en-suite accommodation) and a market cross, the village once having a market second only in importance to that of nearby Grantham. The centre of the village comprises many beautifully renovated stone and brick properties with some modern infill and there is a small development of council houses and several major private developments have and are taking place. On the southern edge of the village is a considerable and well maintained development of mobile homes called Allington Gardens, built on the site of a WW2 prisoner-of-war camp.
The primary school, opened in 1907, was extended in 1983 to accommodate children from nearby Sedgebrook. In recent times the school has had excellent OFSTED reports and children from a number of nearby villages attend. Secondary education is provided in Grantham where there are a number of excellent comprehensive schools, a boys' and a girls' grammar school and a college of further education.
There is a substantial village hall which has been much improved in recent times and houses a consulting room for the doctor's practice which is based 3 miles away in Long Bennington. The playing fields provided cricket and football pitches and a play area for youngsters. A mobile library visits regularly. A large equestrian centre, Arena UK, is situated on the outskirts.
Allington lies less than two miles from both the A1 and A52 trunk roads which provide easy access to nearby cities-Lincoln, Nottingham and Peterborough all being within 45 minutes drive. The historic market town of Grantham is 15 minutes away by car and from Grantham station, London King's Cross can be reached in little over an hour. As a consequence few of the village's 650 inhabitants both live and work in the village, but this is by no means a ‘dormitory' village. It is a lively and interesting place to live, there being a wide variety of clubs and societies catering for all age groups including The Playgroup, Mothers & Toddlers, Brownies, Women's Institute, Square Dancing, and Allington Morris Dancers.
There is a professionally produced bi-monthly newspaper, Allington News, which is supported entirely by advertising and which is distributed free of charge to all the households in Allington and Sedgebrook.
Church members in Allington, Foston, Long Bennington and Sedgebrook produce and distribute 3000 copies of the Saxonwell Group Parish News once a month.