Countesthorpe
Major Settlement in the Parish of Countesthorpe
Historical Forms
- Torp 1156 Ch 1318 MHW 1220
- Thorp Cuntasse 1276 RH
- Thorp Contasse 1284 Fine
- Thorpe Countasse 1284 Ass
- Cuntassethorp 1242 GildR 1261 Cur 1283 Fine
- Cuntasthorp(e) 1284 Fine 1299 Ipm 1397,1399 Rut
- Cuntesthorp(e) 1350 Pat 1425 Wyg 1488 Ipm
- Contassethorp 1272 GildR 1344 Cl 1369,1397 Rut
- Countassethorp 1314 Ass 1343 Cl
- Countasthorp(e) 1314 Ass 1316 Cl 1330 FA 1345 Banco
- Countesthorp(e) 1395 Fine 1400 Pat 1427 Wyg 1626 LML
- Cuntysthorp(e) 1510 Visit 1526 AAS
- Countysthorpe 1562 CoPleas 1627 LML
- Countisthorp(e) 1576 Saxton 1610 Speed 1626 LML
Etymology
'The outlying farmstead', v. þorp ; later affixed with ME cuntesse 'a countess'. Nichols notes that this manor 'was antiently assigned in dower to the Countesses of Leicester', while in 1265, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, died seised of lands in Countesthorpe, v. Nichols 4156.