Cotes is a

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 ...

near the town of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

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. The hamlet, along with

Burton on the Wolds Burton on the Wolds is a village in Leicestershire, England situated on the B676 road west of the A46 and about the same distance to the east of Loughborough, close to the county border with Nottinghamshire. In the 2011 census, the populati ...

and

Prestwold Prestwold is a hamlet and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. The parish has a population of around 60. The population at the 2011 census remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish In En ...

, make up the Burton on the Wolds, Cotes and Prestwold civil parish. Cotes has a population of about 50. At the 2011 census, the population remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Burton on the Wolds, when the hamlet was still its own civil parish. The name 'Cotes' derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''cot'' meaning 'cottages'. It lies on the

River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the East Midlands as well as the principal river of Leicestershire, England. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north throug ...

, and Cotes Bridge provides the main bridging point in that area. The A60 Trunk Road goes over Cotes Bridge on its way out of Loughborough towards

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. The B676, the only other significant nearby road, begins at the A60 just to the east of Cotes Bridge and goes off towards the village of

. There was a minor battle at Cotes Bridge on 18 March 1644 during the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...

, when

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

forces captured the bridge on their way to relieve Newark. The medieval village of Cotes itself was abandoned around 1690, possibly because of plague, although most commentators suggest the impact of the

inclosure act The inclosure acts created legal property rights to land previously held in common in England and Wales, particularly open fields and common land. Between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts enclosing public land were passed, affecting 28,0 ...

s is a more likely explanation. The former Member of Parliament for the local

constituency from 2010 to 2019, Nicky Morgan, chose to include the name of the area as part of her title upon elevation to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, (; born 10 October 1972) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, ...

References

External links

Hamlets in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Charnwood {{Leicestershire-geo-stub