Coton in the Elms is a village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. At from the coast, it is the one of the furthest places in the United Kingdom from coastal waters. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 896. It is located southwest of

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...

and south of

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

. Church Flatts Farm, defined by the

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as the farthest point from the sea in Great Britain, is less than a mile southeast of the village.

History

Coton is mentioned over a thousand years ago when land was transferred to Wulfrige the Black in AD 942. It is also on the salt route known as Walton Way, which starts in nearby

Walton-on-Trent Walton-on-Trent is a village within the civil parish of Walton-upon-Trent, in the National Forest in the South Derbyshire district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 872. The Bridge at W ...

. Coton in the Elms is mentioned 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

where it is then spelt ''Cotes''. The book says under the title of “The lands of the Abbey of Burton":The Abbey of Burton held a considerable number of manors including several in Derbyshire given to it by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. These included Coton in the Elms,

Stapenhill Stapenhill is a suburban village and civil parish in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in the United Kingdom, UK. It was a small village owned by Nigel of Stafford as far back as 1086, however, this ancient parish area has long since been surroun ...

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, East ...

Mickleover Mickleover is a large suburban village of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby city centre, northeast of Burton-upon-Trent, west of Nottingham city centre, southeast of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxete ...

and

Appleby Magna Appleby Magna is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. It includes the small hamlets of Appleby Parva and Little Wigston. The parish has a total collective population of 1,084 (2011) spread across 500 properties (2020), with ...

"In Coton in the Elms Ælfgar had two
carucates The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
of land to the
geld Geld may refer to: * Gelding, equine castration * Danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was calle ...
. There is land for three ploughs. Now the abbot has it of the king. There are now one plough in
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
and six villans and three
bordar Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develope ...
s having two ploughs. TRE worth 40 shillings now 30 shillings."TRE is a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
ate acronym for Tempore Regis Edwardi, meaning 'in the time of King Edward' (before the
Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
).

Coton is situated on the Walton Way and is first mentioned in 942 in a charter giving land in the area to Wulfrige the Black. This formed part of a much larger estate covering many of the villages in the area. Coton would seem to have been roughly in the centre of this estate. It would appear that it was a crossroads as there is an old lane which runs all the way from Tamworth through Coton and on northwards towards

Burton on Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

. At the time of Domesday Burton Abbey held land at Coton - however this had been initially seized by King William - no doubt in part due to the rebellion led by Earl Morcar. However, by the time of Domesday this land had been restored to Burton. The village itself forms a diamond of roads around a small village green. The original route of the Walton Way may have been the south west corner of this diamond as this runs past the Church and Church Farm. To the north east of the village coal mining became important and this is reflected in the lane name Coalpit Lane. The present church of St Mary was built in 1844-7 by

Henry Isaac Stevens Henry Isaac Stevens FRIBA was an architect based in Derby. He was born in London, in 1806, and died in 1873. In the late 1850s he changed his name to Isaac Henry Stevens. Family His parents were Isaac Stevens and Elizabeth Young. He married Ann ...

but not on the site of the original church, which was behind the Shoulder of Mutton

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. It has a narrow west tower with a recessed spire. It is generally believed that when the original church fell into disrepair, the bells were taken to the neighbouring Lullington village, so the inhabitants of Coton can still hear the old bells when the wind is in the right direction. There is a Methodist chapel, built in 1922 to replace a smaller building in Chapel Street. The old building became known as the band room, where for many years a good band was run by a Mr Coates, who was also the village post master. It has also been used as a village hall. The main occupations of the village inhabitants in the past has been mining and farming, though the pits are now all closed. For many of today's population (896 in 2011) it is a commuter base for the larger towns such as

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

and Tamworth. Coton in the Elms has two pubs. The Black Horse was refurbished in 2009. The Queen's Head Inn dates back to the 17th century; part of the premises was once a shop. Another pub, the Shoulder of Mutton, closed in 2010 and is currently being converted to a house.

Distance from sea

Distance from coast

Southeast of the village – at – is Church Flatts Farm, which is calculated by the Ordnance Survey to be the farthest point from the sea (at the mean low water line) in Great Britain. The location is Latitude: 52° 43.6' N Longitude: 1° 37.2' W. This place in Coton was chosen as equidistant from Fosdyke Wash in Lincolnshire; White Sands between

Neston Neston is a town and civil parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It is part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The village of Parkgate is located to the north west and the villages of Little Neston and Ness ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

and

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

in Flintshire; and

Westbury-on-Severn Westbury-on-Severn is a rural village in England that is the centre of the large, rural parish, also called Westbury-on-Severn. Location The village is situated on the A48 road (between Minsterworth and Newnham on Severn) and bounded by the R ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

– all of which are away.

Distance from highest tidal water

The nearest high tide point is on the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

at Cromwell Lock, north of

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

, in Nottinghamshire, away.

Highest recorded temperature

On 19 July 2022 a temperature of was recorded in Coton in the Elms – a record for Derbyshire. It broke the record set only the day before (18 July) of , also in Coton in the Elms. The previous Derbyshire record was also at Coton in the Elms: in July 2019.

Notable residents

Nigel Sims David Nigel Sims (9 August 1931 – 6 January 2018), known as Nigel Sims, was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Peterborough United in the 1950s and 1960s. Sim ...

, a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in the 1950s and 1960s for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and England B.

Notes

References

External links

Illustrated details
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire South Derbyshire District