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Little Casterton Little Casterton is about two miles north of Stamford on a minor road that runs to the south of the River Gwash between Great Casterton and Ryhall. As with Great Casterton, the name means 'farm/settlement at a ceaster', the Latin word used by Anglo-Saxons to refer to the remains of Roman towns. Before it was 'Little Casteton' from 1262 onwards the village was known as 'Casterton Parva'. Little Casterton was in East Hundred (formerly Witchley). Within the parish is the shrunken settlement of Tolethorpe, which takes its name from a Scandinavian male name plus 'thorpe', denoting a daughter settlement of the tenth or eleventh century. The Hospital of Tolethorpe In 1301 a hospital was founded by John de Tolethorpe for the maintenance of seven poor men, with a chaplain as warden. However, this did not continue as in 1359 Sir William de Burton rebuilt the chapel at Tolethorpe and obtained papal authority to found a college of a master and six chaplains, administered by the the bishops of Lincoln, London, and Rochester. Indulgences were granted to those visiting the chapel on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin or St Anne, with further indulgences being granted the following year. Initially the chapel was expected to meet its costs from the offerings made there. But in 1362 the founder sought a royal licence to appropriate the advowson of the parish church of Little Casterton. Soon afterwards the chapel survived only as a chantry, with the parish priest of Little Casterton seemingly obliged to provide a chaplain to serve the chapel three times a week. In 1410 he was exonerated from this duty and it is probable that the chapel was not regularly maintained at all after this date. It is mentioned as part of the manor of Tolethorpe as late as 1496, when there was still a dwelling called College House, and a small field called Chapel Close. But the chapel itself was probably in ruins by then. source: VCH: Rutland A medieval gatehouse survives at Tolethorpe Hall, on the road to Ryhall. The main building is a sixteenth century manor house with eighteenth century additions, although little of historical interest has survived inside. The grounds are locally famous for the open air theatre. Tolethorpe Hall in 2026. To the west of the hall is a stone-built watermill with unusual cast-iron windows. All Saints church All Saints church, by the River Gwash, is somewhat remote from the village. Little Casterton tympanum. Photograph by Tina Negus. There is a Romanesque tympanum on the inside wall of the aisle. This is decorated with a Tree of Life and two triple rosettes that are said to denote the wheel of eternity. Until 1908 this stone was used face down as the sill of the west window. The north arcade and north doorway are about 1200 and are probably contemporary with the tympanum, which presumably was originally placed over the south door. The remainder of the building is thirteenth century, apart from the clerestory of a century or two later, although the chancel was rebuilt in accurate thirteenth century style during the 1830s (one of the first major restorations in Rutland). There are some rare late thirteenth century paintings on the wall around the west window. The fourteenth century piscina canopy is decorated with human heads. The flower-shaped drain in the floor is said to have come from Pickworth church. Some of the painted glass in the south windows of the chancel is also fourteenth century. Of a similar date is the fine memorial brass to Thomas Burton, who died in 1381, and his wife. The lower half of the chancel screen is sixteenth century. The interior furnishings were mostly replaced between 1906–8. The stained glass in the east and west windows was created in the twentieth century by Christopher Whall. Victoria County History page for Little Casterton. 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