Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Losecote-field 1811 Blore

• Losecoat Field 1893 Anc

Etymology

, Losecote-field 1811 Blore, Losecoat Field 1893Anc , the local name for the site of the Battle of Empingham , 12th May 1470 . Popular lore maintains that it refers to the tradition that the defeated Lancastrians threw off their coats to escape detection after the battle , but the name is no doubt from the more mundane OE  hlōse -cot ' pigsty cottage ' as the 1811 form indicates , v. hlōse , cot , cf. Loscott in Leighfield f. ns . ( b ) and Loscoat ( e ) s in Braunston f. ns . ( b ) . The contemporary name for the battleground was Hornefeld in Empyngham 1475 Pat because it was adjacent to Horn , v. VCH 2242 . Early references are Hornefeld 1472 Blore, 1509 Pat, 1535 VE , and later Hornefield 1806 Map,1846 White .