According to the Domesday Book (1086) the “Manor of Witewic” belonged to Hugh de Grandmesnil and included Bardon, Markfield and other surrounding villages. There is evidence of a castle built between 1135 and 1154 but subsequent landlords did not make this castle their prime residence.It was a motte and bailey castle, although no remains are left. This was held by the Earls of Leicester, though it was recorded as being ruinous by 1427. The foundations are said to have been visible at the end of the 18th century and a wall was still to be seen on the north side in 1893.A licence to crenellate the structure was issued in 1320 to 'Henricus de Bello Monte, Consanguineus Regis' (Henry Beaumont, blood-relative of the king). The building work resulting from this licence may have provoked an attack by Sir John Talbot. Beaumont's claim to the land was from his wife's inheritance and, it seems, Talbot felt he had a claim to Whitwick. Twenty years later the capital message was worth nothing.
The mound retains the title of Castle Hill and is surmounted by a 19th century folly, with a castellated roofline. This was built in 1846 by a local landowner, Joseph Almond Cropper, as almshouses for the poor.
The Church of St John the Baptist was probably an adjunct to the Castle and contains the tomb of the giant Sir John Talbot, who died in 1365.
The annual fair, or "wakes", was once a hugely popular event and coincided with the patronal festival of the parish church. At the height of its popularity in the early 20th century, it is remembered that the larger amusements stood in the opening in front of the White Horse public house and there were wild beast shows including seals swimming around in tanks.
Whitwick Colliery was opened in 1826. It was the site of a major colliery fire in 1898 in which 35 miners lost their lives. Patrick O'Mara, one of those killed, was found on his knees with his rosary beads still in his hands. The youngest victim was John Albert Gee of Thringstone, who was aged just thirteen years. A memorial tablet to those killed can be found in the parish church at Coalville. The mine closed in 1986. An old winding wheel can still be seen at the foot of Leicester Road, erected as a monument to Whitwick's mining past following the closure of the colliery.
The grave of Thomas Elsdon Ashford VC can be found in Whitwick Cemetery. He was awarded the honour for helping to rescue wounded comrades in action in Afghanistan in 1880.
A popular affirmation is that the village of Whitwick contains three 'cities'. The City of Three Waters and the City of Dan are official postal addresses, situated respectively at the foot of Dumps Hill and Leicester Road. Over the years, there have been many contenders for the location of the 'third city', the most popular being The City of Hockley - an area located midway between the Cities of Three Waters and Dan, close to the parish church, and also alongside the watercourse passing through the village. However, older residents have always maintained that this area was known simply as The Hockley, and the prefix of 'city', they suggest, is a retrospective appendage. Even the place-name, 'Hockley', would appear to be a mystery.
Of equal obscurity is the name of Whitwick's 'Dumps Hill', a steep incline forming part of a staggered cross-roads at the northern end of the village. Many theories have been expounded to account for its origin, including, that the houses built on the righthand side after the old railway bridge were constructed on the site of the old 'Dumblies' pig farm. Sheila Smith, in her 1984 history of Whitwick also suggests that the name may be linked to a framework knitting past as in 1845, one Joseph Sheffield - in his evidence before theCommission into the plight of the framework knitters - makes reference to a type of stocking called 'dumps'. There are several surviving examples of framework knitters' cottages in the village, which can be recognised by elongated first storey windows, designed to allow greater inlet of light. A good example of such a cottage can be found at the foot of the Dumps.