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Langham Langham is about two miles north-west of Oakham, on the A606 main road linking Oakham with Melton Mowbray. Langham in Rutland has namesake settlements in Dorset, Essex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Somerset and Suffolk. There are prehistoric earthworks on Ranksborough Hill which may be the remains of an Iron Age settlement. A bronze Roman figurine, probably of Jupiter but maybe Neptune, was found nearby in the late nineteenth century. This is now on display in the British Museum. It implies there was an otherwise-unrecorded Roman shrine or villa. Since the 1980s the site has been a caravan site and squash courts.   The Roman figurine of Jupiter from Ranksborough Hill. The place-name means either 'long settlement' (lang ham) or 'long water meadow in a loop of a watercourse' (lang hamm). As the church, with adjacent Old Hall, is within a loop of a seemingly-unnamed watercourse then hamm seems most probable. Early churches in the loops of rivers are quite common. Evesham is perhaps the best-known. Water flows more slowly around the inside of a bend, creating sloping shorelines suitable for beaching flat-bottomed vessels. Langham was in Oakham Soke. The most interesting old houses are in Church Street. The Old Hall, next to the church, was built in 1665; the west wing was added in 1926. A map drawn in 1624 shows a windmill on the north side of Cold Overton Road, which is to the west of the village. There is nothing on the 1884 OS map which suggests this windmill still existed. However to the east of the village the 1884 map has 'Langham Windmill (disused)'. It was a post-mill and said to have been demolished before 1890. Oral history collected in the 1970s suggests this mill has previously been on Barleythorpe Hill until the 1830s. There was once a watermill, although I have not been able to find out anything about it. Commercial brewing started at Langham in 1858 by a local farmer, Richard Westbrook Baker. The business had several owners in subsequent decades. In 1896 George Ruddle became the brewing manager and, on the death of the previous owner, bought the business in 1911. Even though he died in 1923, the brewery retained the name Ruddle's. Their 'County' brand enjoyed considerable success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986 Ruddles was bought by Watneys, and then by Grolsch in 1992. The value of the brewery and brands had dropped to £4.8m when it was sold to Morland & Co in 1997. The various changes of ownership were accompanied by a decline in sales. The brewery was closed in 1999, and production of Ruddles beer moved briefly to Abingdon and then to Bury St Edmunds. More about Ruddles Brewery in Rutland Record No.5. SS Peter and Paul's church SS Peter and Paul's church is situated in the loop of a stream. The tower and porch are thirteenth century, the tall spire and arcades fourteenth century, the font, roof and magnificent window in the south transept are fifteenth century. A north transcept was demolished in 1802. The fourteenth century clerestory is unusual as it continues over the chancel arch. A cross shaft from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries was discovered about 2007. The chancel was rebuilt between 1876 and 1880 as part of a restoration by Ewan Christian and Bodley and Garner. Among the many carved heads on corbels and elsewhere is a face-pulling mooning man on the exterior, a tongue-poker inside and what are thought to be heads depicting Edward III, Queen Philippa of Hainault and Simon de Langham. Simon Langham (1310–1376) was born at Langham in 1310. He went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury (1366-68) and Cardinal of St Sixtus (1368). Besides his public and political career, which culminated in his appointment as Chancellor, he was a great benefactor to Westminster Abbey, where he was a monk and abbot. He is also said to have rebuilt the chapel at Langham, which belonged to the abbey. On the Sunday after the feast of St Peter fresh hay, from church's own meadow, is strewn on the floor. This is a now-rare survival of a once-common tradition, although historically rushes would be used rather than hay. In the churchyard are rather over-the-top Victorian gravestones and a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). At one time there were three such trees.   The tulip tree in flower, July 2006.   The tulip tree in 2006. Victoria County History page for Langham. 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