Rutland in the eighteenth century
As with the previous century, Rutland remained intensely rural with a gentry-dominated landscape centered on Oakham and Uppingham. Life in the villages was almost entirely agricultural. Wheat and barley were the main crops and sheep, cattle and horses were reared. Enclosure of the open fields steadily gained pace, usually by local agreements rather than Acts of Parliament. Horse races were held in Uppingham.
Full details of Rutland's Common Fields and their Enclosure.
Burley House was rebuilt between 1696 and 1705 as a large-scale Baroque-style building. It was owned by Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham (1647–1730).
Other notable landowners were the Noels at Exton (later taking over Burley) and the Cecils at Burghley, Stamford. The county returned just two MPs to parliament. The seats were rarely contested and the Noels usually held one of them.
'Turnpike fever' peaked between 1750 and 1772. Rutland benefited from proximity to the much-improved Great North Road, and also had specific turnpike trusts for routes within the county.
More about turnpike trusts in Rutland here.
Uppingham in 2001.
Oakham and Uppingham were prosperous. The evidence for that lines the main streets as many of the shops have been converted from stone-built Georgian town houses.
Valerie Hughes has written a history of Uppingham in the eighteenth century.
During the eighteenth century, Uppingham School was a small institution, with thirty to sixty pupils, and only two teachers. Nevertheless it prepared boys for Oxford and Cambridge universities. Only around 1800 did it develop into a full boarding school. At that time Oakham School was also small, with fifty or fewer pupils.
Bernard Elliot wrote about Catholicism in Rutland in Rutland Record No.9.
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