Wistow is a hamlet set in arable farmland in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. The nearest major town is Leicester, the centre of which is 6 miles N of Wistow. It is the site of a deserted medieval village, but the church is still in use. St Wistan's consists of a nave and chancel in one with a NW vestry and a S porch to the nave, a transeptal N chapel, and a tall W tower. The Norman nave masonry runs from the tower to a sharp building break between the 2nd and 3rd windows from the W. The older masonry is of rubble while that in the chancel is ashlar. The transeptal chapel was added c.1300 and the chancel enlarged in the late 14thc. The tower is 15thc and also of rubble. The church apparently fell into disrepair and in the mid-18thc it was extensively rebuilt in a classical style with large, round-headed windows to nave and chancel. Rainwater heads dated 1815 indicate a restoration, and the unprepossessing porch also dates from the 19thc. The only Romanesque feature is the blocked and shaved S doorway, situated to the E of the present porch.

Wistow was held by Robert Despenser in 1086, when it was assessed at 11 carucates and 3 bovates. In the early 12thc the overlordship passed to Philip Marmion. It stayed in the Marmion family until the late 13thc. The Marmions' under-tenants were members of the Hastings family, who eventually became Earls of Pembroke and retained the Leicestershire holdings until the mid-14thc. They are recorded as holding the advowson of St Wistan's, Wistow c.1220.

The form of the S doorway capitals is hard to decipher, but they were clearly unusually elaborate.