 In 1662 the manor was sold to Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin who conveyed it five years later to John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse, whose daughter married Sir John Webb of Great Canford in Dorset and Odstock in Wilts whose heirs held it into the twentieth century.The etymology of the village name is a combination of the Old English words of "cū" and tūn meaning "Cow farm".The East is to distinguish it from other Cowton's in the area.