[2] Hartshorne was mentioned in the Domesday book as belonging to Henry de Ferrers[3] and being worth ten shillings.

The Rector of Hartshorne, William Dethick, founded a free school for local children in 1626.

In 1800, the owner of the Manor, William Bailey Cant, left it to the lawyer Thomas Erskine, in recognition of his role in the case of John Horne Tooke.

The New Inn closed in the 1960s and was then used as a hairdressing salon before being demolished in 1975 to make a car park extension for the Admiral Rodney.

The Old Manor House in the northern part of the village is a Grade II* listed 17th-century timbered building on Main Street.