England’s smallest County of Rutland was the subject of a talk by member Ray Young at a recent meeting of Largs Probus Club. Ray had lived in the County for a number of years from the age of 12, so was able to give the members some fascinating and interesting facts about Rutland.
Geography
Rutland is situated in the Midlands and has an area of 151 square miles and a population of 41,400. It was absorbed into Leicestershire in 1974 but following a public campaign was reinstated as a County in 1997. Residents are known as “Raddlers” after the red ochre used to make raddle, a paint used on sheep to show they have mated.
The main feature is Rutland Water, the UK’s largest man-made lake, with an area of 4.9 square miles, similar in size to Lake Windermere in the Lake District, and holds around 27 billion gallons of water. When the village of Nether Hambleton was flooded in 1976 to make the reservoir, Normanton Church was rescued and rebuilt to be a popular feature on Rutland Water.
The County town of Oakham has a Castle (which is really a Great Hall) and since 1229 has remained in continuous use as a Court House. Peers of the realm who pass through Oakham for the first time must give a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor. This custom started over 550 years ago and continues to this day with over 230 horseshoes displayed in the Castle, the oldest one being given by Edward IV in about 1470. In Rutland, all horseshoes are hung with their tips at the bottom which some people consider to be upside down and bad luck, but this local custom is to prevent the devil hiding at the bottom of the horseshoe.
Above: Oakham Castle. Below: Interior showing the horseshoes
Rutland Characters
Ray spoke about several characters born in Oakham including England’s smallest man, Sir Jeffrey Hudson. Hudson was baptised in Oakham on 14 June 1619 and was only 18 inches tall well in to middle age. He was presented to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles 1, in a pie when he was nine years old. He was considered one of the wonders of the age because of his well-proportioned smallness. Sir Jeffrey lead an exciting and adventurous life that included being feted by the Royal Court, killing a man in a duel which led to him being dismissed from the Court, being captured by Barbary pirates on his way back to England and spending 25 years as a slave in North Africa before being rescued and returned home to Oakham. In 1649 he took a growth spurt and grew to 42 inches. When he died in 1682, he was buried in a pauper’s grave at an unknown location. His house still stands in Oakham High Street.
Another character was Titus Oates. Born in Oakham on 15th September 1649 he was known to be a fantasist and virtuoso liar. A former naval chaplain, he was expelled for bad conduct and was described as deeply dislikable, unsuccessful and painfully poor. He was a renegade Anglican priest who fabricated a sensational conspiracy known as the Popish Plot in 1679. He fabricated documents and allegations of a Jesuit conspiracy to murder Charles II and restore the Roman Catholic faith as the state religion of England under the King’s brother James, Duke of York. In 1685, Oates was convicted of perjury, sentenced to prison, put in the pillory and whipped. Released from prison after William III’s accession, he took a rich wife, ran rapidly through her money, was reduced to poverty again and became the preacher at a Baptist chapel in Wapping. He died in Westminster on 13th July 1705, almost completely forgotten.
Sir Everard Digby was another interesting character from Rutland, Born on 16 May 1526. His family came from Stoke Dry and his father was MP for Rutland. Everard met the Jesuit Priest John Gerard who nursed him when he was ill, converted him to the Catholic faith and, late in the day, he became a Gunpowder Plot conspirator. He was the only member of the conspiracy to plead guilty and was hung, drawn and quartered on 30th January 1606 in London. Others Ray mentioned were G. H. Finch who was Rutland’s Conservative MP from 1868 to May 22, 1907, and never spoke in Parliament; Sir Andrew Noel who elected himself to Parliament in 1601 but was not admitted; Robert Browne of Tolethorpe who founded the Congregationalists, was imprisoned 32 times for his beliefs and died in Northampton Jail; Isacc Newton who spent time with his Grandmother in Rutland; and Gilbert Heathcoate, a founder of the Bank of England.
Ray concluded his talk with some facts about the County, including the history of Ruddles Brewery their beer was brewed in Langham and used the rare Bramling Cross hop to create classic English ales. The brewery, established in 1858 was bought by George Ruddle in 1912 and Langham remained the home of the brewery until 1999. There was a local outcry when the County Ale label showed a horseshoe with its tips facing upward. The label was quickly changed with the horseshoe tips pointing downwards in accordance with the Rutland tradition.
Largs Probus Club next meets in the Willowbank Hotel on Wednesday 18th December at 12.30 for 1.00 pm for the Christmas Lunch. The next usual meeting will be on 15th January, when the talk will be on Alistair MacLean films.
New members are always welcomed at the Club. If you are 50 or over, retired, or nearing retirement, (men only, I’m afraid) you can attend three meetings as a guest and find out what a relaxed and friendly time we have. That’s plenty of time to decide whether to become a Club member or not. Please check out our programme and then use our Contact Form if you wish to attend as a guest, or to enquire about joining.