Coleorton ( ) is a village 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

North West Leicestershire North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock. The dist ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is situated on the

A512 road The A512 is an A road entirely in Leicestershire, UK. It links the primary destination of Loughborough with the M1, A42 road, and the town of Ashby de la Zouch. The road begins just outside Loughborough Town Centre, near to The Rushes It ...

approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east 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 Staffordshire ...

. Nearby villages include Newbold, to the north,

Thringstone Thringstone is a village in north-west Leicestershire, England about north of Coalville. It lies within the area of the English National Forest. Until 1875, Thringstone had been a township within the ancient parish of Whitwick. The township ...

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 Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

, which was first appended here in 1443 Formerly an ancient parish in

West Goscote West Goscote was a hundred of Leicestershire, that arose from the division of the ancient Goscote hundred into two. It covers the north west of the county, an area broadly corresponding to the western part of Charnwood district along with North ...

hundred, Coleorton became part of

Ashby de la Zouch Rural District Ashby de la Zouch Rural District was a rural district in England, near Ashby de la Zouch (which was an urban district). It was formed in 1894 along with most other rural districts. In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, ...

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 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 ...

, which was between Coleorton and Swannington, is now closed, and a woodland

Coleorton Wood Coleorton Wood is a woodland in the village of Coleorton, near Coalville in northwest Leicestershire, England. It is a mixed woodland that was planted during the early days of the National Forest. The site was formerly Coleorton Pit, or collier ...

was planted in 1991–2 on the colliery site as part of the National Forest.

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 rece ...

(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 Tr ...

' 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 Irel ...

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

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 Staffordshire ...

References

External links

Coleorton Parish Council

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