Cold Newton is a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Harborough district of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England. It is situated about two miles from

Tilton on the Hill Tilton on the Hill is a village and (as just Tilton) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Tilton on the Hill and Halstead in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire. The population of the civil parish of Tilton on ...

and two miles north of

Billesdon Billesdon is a village and civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of 745 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 901 at the 2011 census. It is just off the A47 road, A47, ...

. Some above sea level, it overlooks the Wreake valley. Any population remaining is listed in the civil parish of Lowesby.

History

The second part of the hamlet's name means 'farm/settlement which is new'. 'Cold' was later added due to the cold winds from the hamlet's exposed position. Newton, spelt ''Niwetone'' is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. Here it is listed as largely 'deserted' but still containing 11 households. The name later changed to Newton Burdett when Hugo de Burdet became

Lord of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

and was also known as Newton Marmion when the Marmion family were seated there. Towards the end of the 16th century, farmland surrounding the village began to be enclosed for pasture. This process had been completed by 1641. This enclosure likely resulted in the construction of farmhouses away from the village and the abandonment of the village itself.

Present day

Medieval Cold Newton is now deserted. Ridges and hollows in fields mark where the village stood (at ) and the site is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. For administrative purposes the village is linked with Lowesby parish. It has no church, public house or shop. A village green was created in 1977 to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee on land gifted to the parish by the Quenby estate, which neighbours the hamlet.

References

External links

{{commons category, position=left
Ordnance Survey Map of Cold NewtonPhotographs of Cold NewtonHistoric England ListingImage Showing Desserted Medieval Village
Hamlets in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Harborough District