Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,149 in the 2021 census.
Toponymy
The name of the town means "homestead or village of Oc(c)a" or "hemmed-in land of Oc(c)a".
Governance
There are two tiers of local government covering Oakham, at
civil parish (town) and unitary authority level: Oakham Town Council and Rutland County Council. The town council is based at Rol House on Long Row.
The county council is also based in the town, at
Catmose House.
Oakham was an ancient parish, and gave its name to the Oakham Hundred, one of the five historic hundreds of Rutland.
Oakham, along with the rest of Rutland, has been represented at Westminster by the Conservative Member of Parliament Alicia Kearns since 2019.
Demography
Women in the Oakham South East ward had the fifth-highest life expectancy at birth, 95.7 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.
The urban area of the town now extends into the neighbouring parish of Barleythorpe, to the north-west of the town centre.
Landmarks
Tourist attractions in Oakham include All Saints' Church and
Oakham Castle. Another historic feature is the open-air market held in the town's market place every Wednesday and Saturday. Nearby is the Buttercross with an octagonal stone-slate roof and the wooden
stocks – both Grade I
.
All Saints' Church
The spire of Oakham parish church, built during the 14th century, dominates distant views of the town for several miles in all directions. Restored in 1857–1858 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the church is a Grade I listed building.
Oakham Castle
Only the great hall of the Norman castle is still standing, surrounded by steep earthworks marking the
Motte-and-bailey. The hall dates from about 1180–1190. The architectural historian
Nikolaus Pevsner, in his
Leicestershire and Rutland volume of the Buildings of England series, noted; "It is the earliest hall of any English castle surviving so completely, and it is doubly interesting in that it belonged not to a castle strictly speaking, but rather to a fortified manor house." The building is decorated with Romanesque architectural details, including six carvings of musicians. It is a Grade I listed building.
The hall was in use as an
assize court until 1970 and is still occasionally used as a
Coroner or
Crown Court. It is also licensed for weddings.
The outer bailey of the castle, which is still surrounded by low earthworks, lies to the north of the castle. Known as Cutts Close, it is now a park. The park has some deep hollows which are remnants of the castle's dried-up (fishponds).
Oakham's horseshoes
Traditionally, members of royalty and
Peerage who visited or passed through the town had to pay a forfeit in the form of a
horseshoe. This unique custom has been enforced for over 500 years, but nowadays it only happens on special occasions (such as royal visits), when an outsize ceremonial horseshoe, specially made and decorated, is hung in the great hall of the castle. There are now over 200 of these commemorative shoes on its walls. Not all are dated and some of the earliest (which would doubtless have been ordinary horseshoes given without ceremony by exasperated noblemen) may not have survived. The earliest datable one is an outsize example commemorating a visit by King Edward IV in about 1470. Recent horseshoes commemorate visits by Princess Anne (1999), Prince Charles (2003) and Princess Alexandra (2005).
The horseshoes hang with the ends pointing down; while this is generally held to be unlucky, in Rutland this was thought to stop the Devil from sitting in the hollow. The horseshoe motif appears in the county council's arms and on
Ruddles Brewery labels.
Rutland County Museum
The museum is located in the old Riding School of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry which was built in 1794–1795.
The museum houses a collection of objects relating to local rural and agricultural life, social history and archaeology.
Statue of Queen Elizabeth II
A statue of
Elizabeth II by
Hywel Pratley was unveiled on 21 April 2024, which would have been the 98th birthday of the late Queen. The 7ft (2.1m) tall sculpture on a limestone base was commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of Rutland and funded through donations from businesses and members of the public, at the cost of £125,000.
Transport
Oakham railway station is a stop on the Birmingham–Peterborough line. It is served by two train operating companies:
-
CrossCountry operates a generally hourly service between , , , and .
-
East Midlands Railway operate a small number of services in the morning and evening to , , , and Peterborough.
Most bus services in Oakham are operated by Centrebus and Blands. Routes link the town with Corby, Melton Mowbray and Stamford.
The Oakham Canal connected the town to the Melton Mowbray Navigation, the River Soar and the national waterways system between 1802 and 1847.
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East Midlands and
ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Waltham TV transmitter.
Rutland's local radio stations are BBC Radio Leicester on 104.9 FM, Smooth East Midlands on 106.6 FM, Hits Radio East Midlands on 106.0 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Midlands (which used to be Rutland Radio) on 107.2 FM, Sabras Radio on 91.0 FM and Rutland and Stamford Sound, a community based radio station which broadcast on DAB and online to the county and Stamford in Lincolnshire.
The Rutland Mercury and Rutland Times are the local newspapers that serve the area.
Education
Oakham School is an English public school, founded together with
Uppingham School in 1584. The original school building survives, north-east of the church. It has across its south front the inscription
Schola Latina – Graeca – Hebraica A° 1584 and above its door a stone with an inscription in
Latin,
Greek language and
Hebrew language.
Oakham School is the owner of the town's former workhouse. Built in 1836–1837 by the Oakham Poor Law Union, it held 167 inmates until its conversion into Catmose Vale Hospital. It now contains two of the school houses for girls.
Catmose College, founded in 1920, is a state-funded secondary school. Harington School is a sixth form centre next to it. Rutland County College, previously Rutland Sixth Form College, moved from the outskirts of the town to Great Casterton.
Sports and recreation
Oakham United Football Club won the Peterborough and District Football League in 2015 and gained promotion to the United Counties League First Division.
[Ambitious Oakham United looking to be top local side in the UCL Division One: Ambitious Oakham United looking to be top local side in the UCL Division One , accessdate 18 February 2020.] It currently plays in the .
Oakham Rugby union plays at the Rutland Showground.
Oakham Cricket Club plays at the Lime Kilns off Cricket Lawns.
Notable people
-
Stuart Broad (born 1986), cricketer
-
John Furley (1847–1909), cricketer
-
Jeffrey Hudson (1619 – c. 1682) became a royal court dwarf.
-
Tom Marshall – artist and photo colouriser, grew up in Oakham.
-
Thomas Merton (1915–1968), a religious scholar, studied at Oakham School in 1929–1932.
-
Titus Oates (1649–1705), perjuror
-
Jonnie Peacock (born 1993), Paralympic runner
-
Weston Stewart (1887–1969), Anglican bishop
Twin towns
Oakham is
sister city with:
==Gallery==
External links
