Colston Bassett is an English village in the Vale of Belvoir, in the

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, close to its border with Leicestershire. It lies by the

River Smite The River Smite, a tributary of the River Devon, flows for through Leicestershire and south-east Nottinghamshire, England. The source is near the hamlet of Holwell, Leicestershire and it joins the Devon near Shelton, Nottinghamshire. The ...

. The population in 2001 of 225, including

Wiverton Hall Wiverton Hall (sometimes pronounced ) is an English country house near Tithby, Nottinghamshire. By 1510 the former village of Wyverton had become impoverished and reduced to just four houses and a cottage. It was in that year completely depopu ...

, increased to 399 at the 2011 Census.

Place name and history

The name, first 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as ''Coletone'', is from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

personal name ''Kolr'' (genitive ''Kols''), and 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''tūn'' "farm or village", and so means "Kolr's farm or village". Alternatively, it has been suggested that it derives from Cole meaning "coal" or "stone". The suffix Bassett is from the holder of the estate in the 12th century, Ralph Bassett, a judge appointed by

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

. The history of the village is recorded in some detail in the publication ''A History of Colston Bassett'' by Rev. Evelyn Young, edited for the

Thoroton Society The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, generally known as the Thoroton Society, is Nottinghamshire’s principal historical and archaeological society. It was established in 1897, and takes its name from Dr Robert Thoroton who published the first ...

in 1942 by Thomas M. Blagg. The

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

cost the village at least 14 lives, listed on the war memorial in St John's Church.

Amenities

The village dairy, which opened in 1913, is one of only five that are permitted to name their blue cheese Stilton cheese. It also manufactures smaller quantities of White Stilton and Shropshire Blue. Colston Bassett contains an old market cross, a ruined church of St Mary, Colston Bassett Preparatory School for children between 4–11 years, a pub, the ''Martins Arms'', a riding school, and animal boarding kennels. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

is St John's Church, Colston Bassett.

Transport

Colston Bassett has weekday, daytime bus services to Radcliffe on Trent and Nottingham.Parish Council site. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
/ref> The nearest railway stations are at Radcliffe (4.1 miles, 6.6 km) and Bingham (5.7 miles, 9 km), with hourly or two-hourly services to and beyond

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

. The

A46 trunk road A46 may refer to: Roads: * A46 road, a long distance A road between Bath and Cleethorpes, in England * Bundesautobahn 46, a motorway in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * A46 autoroute The A46 autoroute is a highway in central France. It connec ...

between Leicester and

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 bypasses the town on the line of th ...

passes 1.9 miles (3 km) to the west of the village, and the A52 between Nottingham and

5.6 miles (9 km) to the north. The

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

between London and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

can be reached at Junction 25 (24 miles, 39 km).

References

External links

Colston Bassett
village website
Colston Bassett DairyColston Bassett SchoolColston Bassett Local History Group

External links

{{authority control Villages in Nottinghamshire Rushcliffe