Nortoft was once a distinct 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...

 between the Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

 village of Guilsborough

Guilsborough

Guilsborough is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 660 people....

 and the main road connecting Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 and Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

 (now the A5199

A5199 road

The A5199 road is the direct road from Leicester to Northampton in England. It was formerly part of the A50 trunk road that ran from Bedfordshire to Lancashire...

) in the English Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

.

However due to Guilsborough's expansion the two communities are now merged.

Nortoft, a hamlet now part of Guilsborough village is thought to have medieval origins and was based along the spring line. In the two fields below Nortoft Cottage lies evidence of what is believed to be several building platforms of this earlier settlement, serviced by a now disused track, but this is yet to be verfied by excavation. Nortoft Cottage is based around a very old cob cottage and was likely to be part of the original village settlement, and so is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, house in the village. Earlier remains of a small fortifed Roman

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 settlement can still be seen as a raised bank below the church, at the corner of the High Street and the Coton Road. Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 camped at Guislborough the night before the Battle of Naseby

Battle of Naseby

The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On 14 June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.-The Campaign:...

(14 June 1645) and so would have marched through Nortoft on the way to battle.

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