home page   what's new?   email bobtrubs@indigogroup.co.uk to request updates (please mention Rutland Village by Village) or to offer new information   Rutland Village by Village only WWW Village by Village Ashwell Ayston Barleythorpe Barrow Barrowden Beaumont Chase Belmesthorpe Belton-in-Rutland Bisbrooke Braunston-in-Rutland Brooke Burley Caldecott Clipsham Cottesmore Edith Weston Egleton Empingham Essendine Exton Glaston Great Casterton Greetham Gunthorpe Hambleton Horn Ketton Langham Leighfield Little Casterton Lyddington Lyndon Manton Market Overton Martinsthorpe Morcott Normanton North Luffenham Oakham Pickworth Pilton Preston Ridlington Ryhall Seaton South Luffenham Stoke Dry Stretton Teigh Thistleton Thorpe by Water Tickencote Tinwell Tixover Uppingham Wardley Whissendine Whitwell Wing This site sponsored by   Heart of Albion

What the Normans did for Rutland The eleventh century Great Hall in Oakham acquired stone defensive walls (since demolished) and a more castle-like setting in the thirteenth century. This depiction was engraved in 1730. By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 Hambleton and Luffenham were losing their earlier importance and Market Overton was becoming the most important town in Rutland. For several years after the Norman Conquest in 1066 Rutland remained the dower lands of Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor, who reigned 1042–66. She gave her name to Edith Weston, although the earliest written record of that compound name is not until 1263. After Edith's death in 1075 William the Conqueror retained Rutland for himself and converted a large part into a hunting forest. Market Overton's increasing importance slowed down significantly after 1080. There had been a pre-Conqest fortified manor house and probably a market at Oakham. However, after the building of a Norman 'great hall' (now, somewhat confusingly, called 'Oakham Castle') Oakham quickly become the most important place in Rutland, a status it has always retained. However Oakham Castle was not the only Norman castle in Rutland. An impressive moated site at Empingham, right on the eastern boundary of the county, survives as earthworks. Thought to have been built by the Busseys or Robert de Vipont about 1300, it is not referred to in surviving records until 1417. Before about 1300 there was a most likely a less elaborate motte and bailey erected in the late eleventh century. The medieval earthworks at Essendine 'embrace' the parish church, shown here in red. The main defensive structures and accomodation would have been in the area shaded brown. The main moat has been shaded light blue with the West Glen River, which feeds the moat, shown in darker blue. The imposition of feudal Norman ownership would have impacted the lives of almost everyone in Rutland. But the main aim of these lords was to maximise income from agriculture so they didn't change the ways things were done too radically. The Great Hall at Oakham was built between 1180 and 1190 as a manor house for Walkelin de Ferrers. It is one of the finest examples of Norman domestic architecture in Europe. This photograph was taken in 2001. A comparable Great Hall survives in Leicester, close to the Norman motte and bailey and the church of St Mary de Castro. However it is not as well-preserved as Oakham because the interior was modified in 1821 to use as two courtrooms. And since 2016 public access to the interior has been greatly restricted. Romanesque churches The evidence of Norman church building in Rutland is extensive. Morcott is the most complete survival in the county. The massive piers of the arcades are surmounted by capitals decorated with leaves, animals and ornamental moulding. There are also interesting Romanesque survivals at Egleton, Essendine, Ridlington and Stoke Dry. Tickencote retains much Norman work although the present structure is the result of major restoration in the eighteenth century. About thirty-four churches in Rutland have evidence of Romanesque construction. And there's only fifty-one churches in total in Rutland. See the page about Romanesque sculpture in Rutland to discover why Stoke Dry and Tickencote are of national significance. As Rutland has only one church with surviving Anglo-Saxon masonry (the tower arch at Market Overton) nor much stone sculpture from before the Conquest, presumably because before the late eleventh century most of Rutland's churches were built of wood. After all there was an abundance of woodland. Throughout England Norman lords considered timber churches unduly humble so instigated prestigious rebuilding of 'their' chapels (the direct precursors to later parish churches) using stone, which was also available locally in Rutland. The north arcade of Morcott church is an excellent example of Romanesque architecture. The Romanesque tympanum inside Egleton church is an unusual design. Originally it would have been outside, above a doorway. Ridlington also has a Romanesque tympanum, likewise now inside the church. When carved such tympana would have been quite garishly painted. Brooke church has a Romanesque north arcade, south doorway and font. Norman place-names Rutland is quite curious, especially compared to Leicestershire and other Midlands counties. The only place-name in Rutland which is Norman in origin is Beaumont Chase. No counterparts to Mountsorrel, Belgrave or Belvoir Castle. Even more curiously the Norman feudal lords felt no need to add their name to Rutland's settlements. So no counterparts to Melton Mowbray, Croxton Kerrial or Neville Holt. The only changes from about the early twelfth century was to distinguish two 'thorpes' by changing one to Barleythorpe and the other to Thorpe by Water. 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