Cotesbach (/ˈkoʊtsbætʃ/ KOHTS-batch) is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England.

[1] The parish is located near the M1, M6 and A5, with the main settlement just off the A426 Rugby Road, which was built to bypass the village.

Until the year 2000 the village had a small post-office, operated inside the porch of a resident's cottage.

In Middle English 'beche' is translated to mean a river or flow of water in a valley.

[3] Three places in Cotesbach parish are believed to be sites of early settlements of round houses, dating from around 800 to 42 BC.

The Roman period saw some changes for Cotesbach, especially with the creation of nearby roads such as Watling Street and Fosse Way.

[4] The current site of Cotesbach is believed to have originated from the Saxon period.

In this period, Cotesbach was in the 'neutral' area between the Kingdom of Wessex and the Dane Law territory.

Many archaeological finds originate from this period, including many brooches, a copper alloy stirrup mount, a small sword/dagger and a shield boss.

[6] This description of Cotesbach was given in the late nineteenth century: "A parish in Lutterworth district, Leicester; adjacent to Watling-street and the boundary with Warwick, 1¾ mile SSW of Lutterworth, and 4 SE by S of Ullesthorpe r. station.

[11] The Schoolhouse was constructed by Robert Marriott in the late 18th century to provide a good education to the village children.

[12] St Mary's Church was constructed in the 13th century, however it is believed that a wooden building was on the same site previously.

1919 saw a clock added to the church as a memorial to World War One, as well as a stained glass window which was installed in memorial to the two Marriott brothers who lost their lives during the war.

[13] The 1881 census reported that the most dominant occupation was domestic service of offices, with 36 people from the parish employed in this sector.

This decrease could possibly be due to the industrial revolution, especially with the development of steam power.

In the 1891 and 1901 census's the population was decreasing, possibly due to people moving out to industrial cities.