- This article is about the county in England. For other articles on subjects named Rutland, see Rutland (disambiguation).
Rutland is traditionally England's smallest county and is bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest length north to south is only 18 miles; greatest breadth east to west, 17 miles. It is the smallest (in terms of population) normal unitary authority in mainland England (only the City of London is smaller), and is 345th of the 350 districts in terms of population.
The two principal towns are Oakham, the county town, and Uppingham. At the centre of the county is a large reservoir, Rutland Water, which is an important nature reserve, serving as an overwintering site for wildfowl and a breeding site for Ospreys. The town of Stamford is just over the border in a protruding part of Lincolnshire.
Eric Idle, of the Monty Python team, joined with Neil Innes, of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, to create the television comedy series, Rutland Weekend Television in the 1970s.
History
Main article: History of Rutland.
The north-western part of the county was recorded as Rutland, a detached part of Nottinghamshire, in the Domesday Book; the south-eastern part as the wapentake of Wicelsea in Northamptonshire. It was first mentioned as a separate county in 1159, but as late as the 14th century it was referred to as the 'Soke of Rutland'.
In the 19th century it was divided into the hundreds of Alstoe , East , Martinsley , Oakham and Wrandike .
The county was made a district of Leicestershire in the local government reorganisation of 1974, but was restored to county status by popular demand on 1 April 1997.
Towns and villages
- Ashwell , Ayston
- Barleythorpe , Barrow , Barrowden , 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
- Ketton
- Langham, Little Casterton, Lyddington , Lyndon
- Manton , Market Overton , Morcott
- Normanton , North Luffenham
- Oakham
- Pickworth, Pilton , Preston
- Ridlington , Ryhall
- Seaton , South Luffenham , Stoke Dry , Stretton
- Teigh , Thistleton , Thorpe by Water , Tickencote , Tinwell , Tixover
- Upper Hambleton , Uppingham
- Wardley , Whissendine , Whitwell, Wing
Places of interest
Rivers
