[2] Cold Overton is listed in the Domesday Book as in the Framland Hundred of Leicestershire, with 12 ploughlands, 17 households, 4 freemen, 8 villagers, 4 smallholders, and a priest.

Lordship in 1066 was held by Ulf Fenman, transferred to Fulco in 1086, with Drogo de la Beuvrière as Tenant-in-chief.

This orphanage had been discontinued by 1877, and in its place was established a free school for local boys and girls.

Also listed was a schoolmistress, the parish rector, and Frewen family occupants of Cold Overton Hall.

[10] At the centre of the village is the Grade I listed Cold Overton Hall, a country house of c. 1664 with early 19th-century additions.