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Hambleton Before the flooding of Rutland Water there were three villages, Upper, Middle and Nether Hambleton. Old Hall, built 1610, is all that survives of Middle Hambleton; otherwise only Upper Hambleton remains above the shore line. From the Hambleton peninsula there is a dramatic view over Rutland Water to Burley House in the north. During the 2026 drought the foundations of buildings at Nether Hambleton were revealed.   Upper, Middle and Nether Hambleton in 1884. See all the map here.   The extent of Rutland Water in 2025. Despite modern spellings the name was originally hamel dun, the 'crooked or mutilated hill'. Viewed nationally, dun appears to mean a hill with a summit suitable for settlement. Hambleton and Barrowden are both good examples in Rutland. Plausibly the 'mutilation' in the name refers to the flat top, perhaps enhanced to create defensive earthworks, with levelled ground inside. Hambleton was probably the power base for the early Anglo-Saxon rulers of the region (such as Rota, who gave his name to Rutland), perhaps because of the dramatic hilltop location above the Gwash valley. Paul Wiggin has written a free PDF about Rota's burh There has been speculation that Hambleton was the centre of a Roman regio or administrative district which, in turn, suggests that the place would have been important in the Iron Age. At some time, probably the late eighth or early ninth centuries, a more defended site or a garrison was built to the north at Burley as the name means the burg (defended place) in the clearing. Peter Tomalin has analysed records from 1705 which seemingly reveal which churches in the eleventh century were 'dependencies' ('berewicks') of Hambleton. His article is in Rutland Record No.23. In summary, the berewicks of Hambleton seem to have been Normanton, Edith Weston, Manton, Lyndon and St Peter's, Stamford. This is typical of the earliest churches founded in the seventh and eighth centuries which had extensive parochia that, around the eleventh century, evolved into manorial chapels and then parish churches. The 1705 records are the best evidence for Hambleton church having originated in the seventh and eighth centuries. (Similarly, the best evidence for Orston in Nottinghamshire having an a seventh or eighth century origin is two documents which have survived from the eighteenth century.) Martinsthorpe is not included in the 1705 document, presumably because the the village was cleared in 1622 so the chapel would have little or no income. However older evidence indicates this too was a berewick of Hambleton. In 1705 there is also vicarial income from Braunston, but the origin of this arrangement is unclear and may be later than the eleventh century. There was a weekly market and an annual fair at Hambleton throughout the Middle Ages and quite probably these date back to at least the Anglo-Saxon period. However Hambleton ceased to be the adminstrative centre of Rutland around the seventh century when the early church at North Luffenham took on the role. After 1066 Luffenham in turn lost out to Oakham. A holy Well at Upper Hambleton is known from 1726 when there is a record of the field-name 'Holy Well Close'. Holywell Meadow in mentioned in 1792. Later references up to 1915 have Holwell but the earlier forms indicate that it was originally a holy well. The location is not known. A late sixteenth century priest's house survives, much restored, to the south of the church. Hambleton Old Hall dates to the early seventeenth century but has been subjected to various alterations. This should not be confused with Hambleton Hall, built in 1881 in the mock-rural style that was then fashionable. Close to the shore of Rutland Water stands the isolated Hambleton Old Hall. While Civil War raged it was home to the Parliamentarian High Sheriff of Rutland, Abel Barker, and his new wife Anne. Separated from her Royalist family, Anne wrote intimate letters telling of billeted soldiers, Twelfth-Night cakes, new fashions from London, and her ambition to present her husband with a son. Tragically, Anne's married life lasted only eighteen months; the child she expected with such hopeful joy brought her unexpected death. Her letters survive to paint a vivid picture of the daily concerns and human emotions of a vanished age. Details of these letters in Rutland Record No.19. The letters of Abel Barker's second wife, Mary, are discussed in an article in Rutland Record No.21. Hambleton was one of three Rutland villages used to study mortality in the late 1830s. See Rutland Record No.33. Near the church are several estate worker's cottages built in 1892 in the Arts and Crafts style; one of these retains the stylish decorative metalwork from when it was the Post Office. See Rutland Record No.42.   The former Post Office in 2002.   The door of the former Post Office. St Andrew's church   St Andrew's church in 2002. That Stamford was part of Rutland until a relatively late date is indicated by the Domesday survey which records Stamford holding land and the church of St Peter at Hambleton. In reality Hambleton had been the mother church of Stamford until the relative importance of the two settlements shifted dramatically. Queen Edith held seventy residences and forty-five acres of meadow in Stamford, clearly stated in 1086 to be part of Rutland. St Andrew's church has traces of its Anglo-Saxon origins, although the building mostly dates from about 1180–90, with early thirteenth century arcades and various modifications in the late thirteenth century. The building was well-restored in the nineteenth century. Look out for the interesting Romanesque doorway and fourteenth century font. The thirteenth century tower is surmounted by a low broach spire of about 1230. Victoria County History page for Hambleton. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2026 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/rutland

Rutland's history home page what's new? glossary bibliography Rutland's geology Rutland's boundaries Rutland's rivers long, long ago prehistoric Rutland Roman Rutland long ago Anglo-Saxon Rutland Rutland's place-names waterborne transport around the sixth century Rutland's early churches Anglo-Saxon sculpture in Rutland The Matter of Rutland what the Normans did for Rutland Romanesque sculpture in Rutland Rutland's royal forests Rutland in medieval times Rutland's scratch dials Rutland's medieval carvings Rutland's sepulchral effigies Rutland's saltways Rutland in Tudor times Dissolution in Rutland not that long ago Rutland in the 17th century pinfolds and pounds in Rutland dovecotes in Rutland Rutland in the 18th century turnpiking Rutland Rutland's springs and wells changes in Rutland's agriculture since 1800 seems like yesterday Rutland's dialect Rutland's folk customs travellers in Rutland watermills and windmills in Rutland breweries in Rutland gasworks in Rutland ironstone quarrying in Rutland Zeppelins over Rutland redundant telephone exchanges in Rutland Second World War in Rutland WWII airfields and pillboxes in Rutland the making of Rutland Water Rutland Weekend Television free online history resources Victoria County History: Rutland volume one Victoria County History: Rutland volume two free PDFs of Rutland Record issues 1 to 50 old OS maps Historic England Listed buildings database Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland Open Domesday English Place-Name Society database Wikipedia list of places in Rutland (with links to village entries) Wikipedia list of people from Rutland researching and writing local history getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around Rutland Belton-in-Rutland History Society Cottesmore History and Archaeology Group Langham Village History Group Lyddington Manor History Society Rutland Local History and Record Society with free PDFs of over forty issues of the Rutland Record Uppingham Local History Study Group you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Vale of Belvoir Chronicle Barrowby Until Now website