Oakham

Governance

Local governance for Oakham is provided for by the single-tier unitary Rutland County Council, of which Oakham is the headquarters.

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Rutland from a very early time, from 1974 until 1997, Oakham lay within the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire.

Oakham, along with Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, and the rest of Rutland, has since 1992 been represented at Westminster by the Conservative Member of Parliament Alan Duncan.

Landmarks

Tourist attractions in Oakham include All Saints' Church and Oakham Castle. Another popular and historic feature is the open-air market held in the town's market square every Wednesday and Saturday (near the ancient octagonal Buttercross with its pyramidal roof and wooden stocks, a Grade I listed building).

All Saints' Church

The impressive spire of Oakham parish church, built during the 14th century, dominates distant views of the town for several miles in all directions. Restored in 1857-58 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, and is surrounded by steep earthworks marking the inner bailey. The hall dates from c. 1180—90 and according to Nikolaus Pevsner (in his The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland):

"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 attractively ornamented 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's court or Crown Court. It is also licensed for weddings.

The outer bailey of the castle, still surrounded by low earthworks, lies to the north of the castle. Known as Cutts Close, it is now a park with a bandstand, skateboard area, flowerbeds and children's play area. Some deep hollows in the park are the remnants of the castle's dried-up stew ponds (fishponds).

A Castle class corvette named HMS Oakham Castle was launched in July 1944.

Oakham's horseshoes

Traditionally, members of royalty and peers of the realm 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. The horseshoes hang upside-down: while this is generally held to be unlucky, in Rutland this was thought to stop the Devil from sitting in the hollow. The upside-down horseshoe motif appears in the county council's arms and on the local Ruddle's beer labels. Recent horseshoes commemorate visits by Princess Anne (1999), Prince Charles (2003) and Princess Alexandra (2005).

Rutland County Museum

The museum is located in the old Riding School of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry which was built in 1794-95. The museum houses a collection of objects relating to local rural and agricultural life, social history and archaeology.

Transport

The Birmingham to Stansted Airport railway line runs through the town, providing links to Birmingham, Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport. Oakham railway station is positioned approximately halfway between Peterborough railway station and Leicester railway station, at both of which passengers can board a train to London - either from Leicester to London St Pancras or from Peterborough to London King's Cross. There are also two direct services to London St Pancras (one early morning and one evening), and one evening return service from London St Pancras, each weekday.

There are good road links to:

Leicester (25 miles),

Nottingham (29 miles),

Melton Mowbray (10 miles),

Uppingham (6 miles),

Corby (13 miles),

Stamford (11 miles).

The main route for travellers to Leicester by road is first south to Uppingham and then westward along the A47.

Oakham is on the A606 between Melton Mowbray and Stamford. On 10 January 2007, the A606 bypass opened diverting traffic from the town centre.

The Oakham Canal connected the town to the Melton Mowbray Navigation, the River Soar and the national waterways system between 1802 and 1847.

Education

The town is home to Oakham School, one of the major English public schools, which was founded, together with Uppingham School, in 1584. The original school building survives, northeast of the church; across its south front is the inscription Schola Latina – Graeca – Hebraica A° 1584 and above its door is a stone with an inscription in Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

Oakham School is also the current owner of Oakham's former workhouse. Built in 1836-37 by Oakham Poor Law Union, it served as a workhouse for 167 inmates, until it became Catmose Vale Hospital. It now accommodates two school houses for girls.

Catmose College, founded in 1920, is a state-funded secondary school in the town. Harington School is a sixth form centre that is located next to Catmose College. Rutland County College, formerly Rutland Sixth Form College, has now moved from the outskirts of the town to Great Casterton.

Sports and recreation

Oakham United Football Club won the Peterborough & District Football League in 2015, winning promotion to the United Counties League First Division, which lies at the 10th tier of the English football league system.

Oakham Rugby Football Club play at the Rutland Showground.

Oakham Cricket Club plays at the Lime Kilns off Cricket Lawns.

Notable people

Sir Jeffrey Hudson

Titus Oates

Stuart Broad

Weston Henry Stewart