Town in Rutland, England
Oakham
In Oakham, a peer who visits for the first time owes the town a horseshoe, and hundreds hang on the walls of a Norman hall.
Key information
- County
- Rutland
- Nation
- England
- Population
- about 10,900 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- The horseshoe-covered Oakham Castle hall, Oakham School and nearby Rutland Water
- What locals are called
- Rutlanders
- Famous people
- Jeffrey Hudson, Titus Oates, Robert Johnson
- Football clubs
- Oakham United
About Oakham
The town that collects horseshoes from lords
Walk into the Great Hall of Oakham Castle and look up. The walls are crowded with horseshoes, many of them huge, ornate and gilded, and each carries a name. The custom is that any peer of the realm visiting Oakham for the first time must hand over a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor. If they refuse, the townsfolk are entitled to take one from their horse. Over the centuries the tradition has grown into a collection of well over a hundred shoes, some from royalty, hung in a sort of aristocratic visitor's book. The hall itself dates from around 1180, built by Walkelin de Ferrers, and is one of the finest surviving examples of Norman domestic architecture in England. The carved stone capitals show musicians, beasts and figures. There is no great fortress here. The castle was a fortified manor house, and this hall is what remains of it.
Why Britain's smallest county has such a dignified capital
Rutland is the smallest historic county in England, and Oakham is its county town. The name comes from Old English and means roughly Occa's homestead. In the years before the Conquest, Oakham was held by the queen of Edward the Confessor, Edith. After 1066 it passed to Norman lords, and the Ferrers family built their hall. The hall then served as a courtroom for centuries, which is why a medieval building has the feel of a place where people were judged. The county's motto, Multum in Parvo, means much in little, and Oakham fits it. The Market Place has a Buttercross with a set of stocks, and markets still run on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All Saints' Church stands over the centre with a tall spire, and the Rutland County Museum is a short walk away.
The man who arrived in a pie
Jeffrey Hudson was born in Oakham in 1619. He was only about 18 inches tall as a child, and by the age of nine he was working in the household of the Duke of Buckingham. At a feast in 1626, he was served up to Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria inside a cold pie. The queen was delighted and took him into her service. He became one of the best-known court figures of his day, and later served as a captain of horse in the Civil War. He later reported growing to around 3 feet 9 inches during his captivity in North Africa. Oakham's other notorious son is Titus Oates, born here in 1649. He went on to invent the Popish Plot in 1678, a fictional conspiracy to murder Charles II that sent innocent people to their deaths before it unravelled.
A school that was founded for the county
Oakham School was founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester. He also founded Uppingham School, a few miles away, so the smallest county in England ended up with two long-established schools. Oakham's original school building still stands, and the school has grown into one of the town's largest institutions, giving it a youthful population during term time. Oakham School and the Rutland County Museum sit close to the town centre, which keeps the place compact and easy to walk around.
Ospreys, ale and a very big lake
Just outside town is Rutland Water, created in the 1970s by damming the Gwash valley, and one of the largest man-made lakes in England by surface area. It was filled between 1976 and 1979 and is now a major reservoir, nature reserve and sailing and cycling destination. Ospreys were reintroduced to the area from 1996, and they have since nested there, bringing a bird that had been lost from England for generations back to the Midlands. The Birdfair held at the reservoir became a famous gathering for birdwatchers. Oakham is also known to beer drinkers. Oakham Ales began brewing in the town in 1993 and went on to win national awards for its pale, hoppy beers.
Getting around and getting about
Oakham sits on the railway line between Birmingham and Peterborough, and its station is one of the main stops in Rutland. Its level crossing is famously the cause of traffic queues in the town centre. For sport, the town's football club is Oakham United, and the surrounding countryside is popular with walkers, cyclists and sailors. People from the town and county call themselves Rutlanders, and they are fiercely proud of their small but independent county.