Coleorton ( ) is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Ashby de la Zouch. Nearby villages include Newbold, to the north, Thringstone to the east, and Swannington to the south-east. In the 2001 census, the population of the parish was 1,016, increasing to 1,177 at the 2011 census. The village's name means 'farm/settlement on a ridge'. 'Cole' derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''col'' meaning coal, which was first appended here in 1443 Formerly an ancient parish in West Goscote hundred, Coleorton became part of Ashby de la Zouch Rural District which was created in 1894.

Coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

was an important industry in the area since the 15th century. In 1572, the miners worked in gangs of 10-20 men, with the gang paid one shilling for each 'rook' they dug out (the rook was a fixed quantity, believed to be c. 1-2 tons). Coleorton Colliery, which was between Coleorton and Swannington, is now closed, and a woodland Coleorton Wood was planted in 1991–2 on the colliery site as part of the

National Forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia ...

Opencast mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

operated between 1985 and 1995. Coleorton was the birthplace of

William Stenson William Stenson (1770–1861) was a mining engineer born in Coleorton, Leicestershire. Background Little is currently known about Stenson's background. Detail of his parentage remains unknown and neither is it known where he would have recei ...

(1771–1861), founder of

Whitwick Whitwick is a large village in Leicestershire, England, close to the town of Coalville in the northwest of the county. It lies in an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an ...

Colliery and 'Father of

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon ...

' The

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

Coleorton Hall Coleorton Hall is a 19th-century country mansion, formerly the seat of the Beaumont baronets of Stoughton Grange. Situated at Coleorton, Leicestershire, it is a Grade II* listed building now converted into residential apartments. The manor of Cole ...

, in the west of the parish, was built in 1804-8 for the art patron Sir George Beaumont. William Wordsworth was a regular and frequent guest of Sir George Beaumont at the Hall. Between 1948 and 1997 the house was owned by the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

and used as offices, and it has now been converted into apartments. Coleorton has a post office and is served by three public bus services.

Farm Town

Farm Town is a village that is part of the civil parish of Coleorton.County council
It is located () due east of the town of

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordsh ...

References

External links

Coleorton Parish Council

Coleorton Heritage Group
Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire North West Leicestershire District {{Leicestershire-geo-stub