Coltishall's name is of Old English origin and first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the forms Cokereshala and Coketeshala. From 1200 onwards, it is attested in the contracted form Couteshal(e), in which form it has more or less remained to the present day (the l in the modern spelling is due to hypercorrection). The second part of the name is thought to derive from the Old English word halh ('nook') but the origin of the first part is uncertain; one guess is that it was an otherwise unattested personal name Coccede or Cohhede, and thus meant 'Coccede's nook'.[2] But The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names concludes that "the recorded forms are too few and contradictory for satisfactory explanation".[3]
In 1231, Coltishall was made a 'free-town' by King Henry III. Furthermore, from the mid-Eighteenth Century, Coltishall was a centre for the malting industry with many wherries being built in the village.
Coltishall's parish church is of Norman origin and is dedicated to John the Baptist. The church features good examples of James Powell and Sons stained glass windows and evidence of the wealth of the malting families who have lived in Coltishall throughout history.[6]
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[7]
^The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society, ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. Coltishall.
