According to
A Dictionary of British Place Names, Cottam derives from the
Old English 'cot' (plural: cotum), meaning "a place at the cottages or huts". In the
Domesday Book of 1086 the
manor is written as 'cottun'. Cottam was in the
Hundred of Toreshou, of nine geld units—taxable units assessed by
hide area—and contained five
ploughlands. In 1066 the
lordship was held by Ulf of Carlton, who held sixteen manors in the north of Yorkshire, transferred in 1086 to the
Archbishop of York,
Thomas of Bayeux, who was also
Tenant-in-chief to king
William I. Cottam was previously an Anglo-Scandinavian medieval village that was deserted. All that remains today is the now derelict Church of Holy Trinity which was rebuilt in 1818 and again . The font of the first
Norman church on the site is now in
Langtoft church. In 1823,
Baines recorded that 'Cotham' was in the parish of Langtoft, the
wapentake of
Dickering, and the
liberty of
St Peter's, and noted a
chapel of ease to the parish church at Langtoft. The population of sixteen included a curate and a gentleman farmer.
RAF Cottam was built as a bomber airfield in the Second World War but was never used for flying. Later the runways were used for bomb storage and the buildings were demolished in 1980. ==References==