A brief history of Coxwold The oldest recorded spelling of the village is Cuhu-walda: Cuhu is a personal name and walda is a wood. In Norman times it became Cucwald: cuc is to crow as a cock. Which is the correct origin of the name as a matter of choice.
After the Norman conquest in 1066 the Colvils became Lords of the Manor. Colville Hall, on the site of the original manor, is to the south west of the church. The adjacent farm is still called Manor Farm.
To the north east of the church over the road is the Old Hall. This was built as the Grammar School in 1603 by Sir John Harte, a lad from Kilburn who went to London to become an apprentice grocer, married his master’s daughter and in due course became Lord Mayor of London. The school was closed in 1894 and is now a private residence.
Shandy Hall, at one time the residence of the author Laurence Sterne, is just past the Vicarage up the hill from the church | |