Cottam is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire

East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated on the Yorkshire Wolds

Yorkshire Wolds

The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in northeastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie....

 approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the village of Sledmere

Sledmere

Sledmere is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that is situated approximately north west of Driffield on the B1253 road.Together with the hamlet of Croome it forms the civil parish of Sledmere and Croome....

. It lies west of the B1249 road.

The civil parish is formed by the hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

s of Cottam and Cowlam

Cowlam

Cowlam is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the Yorkshire Wolds approximately east of the village of Sledmere. It lies south of the B1253 road.It forms part of the civil parish of Cottam....

.
According to the 2001 UK census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

, Cottam parish had a population of 74, which is the lowest population figure of any East Riding of Yorkshire civil parish in 2001. RAF Cottam

RAF Cottam

RAF Cottam was a Royal Air Force station near Cottam in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, during World War II. Despite being built as a bomber airfield , poor weather conditions meant it was never actually used as an airfield. However, its runways were later used by 91 Maintenance Unit to...

was built as a bomber airfield in World War II but was never used for flying. Later the runways were used for bomb storage and the buildings were demolished in 1980.

Cottam was previously a medieval village that was deserted. All that remains today is a small, derelict church (which itself dates from the 19th century).

Origin of word

A Cottam, as confirmed by the Oxford University History department derives from the word Cottage. It means a collection of cottages at the end of a lane.