Oakham

**Oakham** is the coonty toun o Rutland, Ingland. It lies  east frae Leicester, an haes a tot resident population o 9,975.

Oakham, which haes ceevil parish status, lees tae the wast o Rutland Water, ane o the lairgest man-made lakes in Europe. It is in the Vale o Catmose an the toun itsel is biggit on an incline, an varies frae 99m abuin sea level (Ladywell aurie) tae 122m abuin sea level (Brooke Schuil aurie). It is twinned wi Barmstedt, Germany, an Dodgeville, Wisconsin, U.S.A..

## Govrenance
Local govrenance for Oakham is providit for bi the single-tier unitary Rutland Coonty Cooncil Destrict Cooncil, o which Oakham is the heidquarters.

Lyin athin the historic coonty bundaries o Rutland frae a vera early time, frae 1974 til 1997, Oakham lay athin the non-metropolitan coonty o Leicestershire.

Oakham, alang wi Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, an the rest o Rutland, haes syne 1992 been representit at Wastmeenster bi the Conservative Member o Parliament Alan Duncan.

## Landmarks
Tourist attractions in Oakham include **Aw Saunts Kirk** an **Oakham Castle**. Anither popular an historic featur is the open-air mercat held in the toun's mercat square ivery Wadensday an Seturday (near the auncient octagonal **[[Buttercross]]** wi its pyramidal ruif an widden stocks, a grade I leetit biggin).

### Aw Saunts Kirk

The impressive spire o Oakham parish kirk, biggit durin the 14t century, dominates distant views o the toun for several miles in aw directions. Restored in 1857 tae 1858 bi Sir George Gilbert Scott, the kirk is a grade I leetit biggin.

### Oakham Castle

Anerlie the great haw o the Norman castle is still staundin, an is surroondit bi steep earthwirks markin the inner bailey. The haw dates frae c.&nbsp;1180&mdash;90 an accordin tae 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 biggin is attractively ornamentit wi Romanesque airchitectural details, includin sax carvins o muisickers. It is a grade I leetit biggin.

The haw wis in uise as an Assize court till 1970 an is still occasionally uised as a Coroner's court or Croun Court. It is an aa licensed for weddins.

The ooter bailey o the castle, still surroondit bi law earthwirks, lies tae the north o the castle. Kent as Cutts Close, it is nou a pairk wi a baundstaund, skatebuird aurie, flouerbeds an childer's play aurie. Some deep hollaes in the pairk are the remnants o the castle's dreed-up stew ponds (fishponds).

A Castle class corvette named  wis launched in Julie 1944.

### Oakham's horseshoes

Tradeetionally, members o royalty an peers o the realm who visitit or passed throu the toun haed tae pey a forfeit in the form o a horseshoe. This unique custom haes been enforced for ower 500 years, but nouadays it anerlie happens on special occasions (sic as Ryal visits), when an ootsize ceremonial horseshoe, specially made an decoratit, is hung in the great haw o the castle. Thare are nou ower 200 o thir commemorative shoes on its waws. No aw are datit an some o the earliest (which wad doubtless hae been ordinary horseshoes gien athoot ceremony bi exasperated noblemen) mey no hae survived. The earliest datable ane is an ootsize ensaumple commemoratin a veesit bi King Edward IV in aboot 1470. The horseshoes hang upside-doun: while this is generally held tae be unlucky, in Rutland this wis thocht tae stap the Devil frae sittin in the hollae. The upside-doun horseshoe motif appears in the coonty council's arms (see tae the right), an on the local Ruddles beer labels. Recent horseshoes commemorate visits bi HRH The Princess Royal (1999), HRH The Prince o Wales (2003) an HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy (2005).

### Rutland Coonty Museum

The museum is locatit in the auld Riding Schuil o the Rutland Fencible Cavalry which wis biggit in 1794-95. The museum hooses a collection o objects relatin tae local rural an agricultural life, social history an airchaeology.

## Transport

The Birmingham to Peterborough railway line runs throu the toun, providin links ae Birmingham, Leicester, Peterborough an Cambridge. Oakham railway station is poseetioned approximately haufwa atween Peterborough railway station an Leicester railway station, at baith o which passengers can buird a train tae London - aither frae Leicester tae London St Pancras or frae Peterborough tae London King's Cross. Thare are an aa twa direct services tae London St Pancras (ane early fore-nuin an ane fore-nicht), an ane fore-nicht return service frae Lunnon St Pancras, each weekday.

Thare are guid road links tae:

*Leicester  (25 mile),
*Nottingham (29 mile),
*Melton Mowbray (10 mile),
*Uppingham (6 mile),
*Corby (13 mile),
*Stamford (11 mile).
The main route for travellers tae Leicester bi road is first sooth tae Uppingham an then wastward alang the A47.

Oakham is on the A606 road atween Melton Mowbray an Stamford.  On 10 Januar 2007, the A606 bypass opened divertin traffeck frae the toun centre.

The Oakham Canal connectit the toun tae the Melton Mowbray Navigation, the River Soar an the naitional waterweys seestem atween 1802 an 1847.

## Education

The toun is hame tae Oakham Schuil, ane o the major Inglis public schuils which wis foondit, thegither wi Uppingham Schuil, in 1584.  The oreeginal schuil biggin survives, northeast o the kirk; athort its sooth front is the inscription *Schola Latina – Graeca – Hebraica A<u>°</u> 1584* an abuin its door is a stane wi an inscription in Laitin, Greek an Ebreu.

Oakham Schuil is an aa the current awner o Oakham's umwhile workhouse.  Built in 1836-7 bi Oakham Poor Law Union, it served as a wirkhoose for 167 inmates, till it became Catmose Vale Hospital. It nou accommodates twa "day" (non-buirdin) Schuil Hooses for girls.

The Catmose College, foondit in 1920, is a specialist visual airts college.
Rutland College, umwhile Rutland Saxt Form College, lees on the ootskirts o the toun.

## Sports an recreation
Oakham Rugby Fitbaa Club play at the Rutland Showground.

An aa, Oakham Imps Football clubs trains on the Oakham Schuil astroturf adjacent tae the railwey an play thair matches at the Catmose College fitbaa pitches

## Street map

## Gallery

Image:Oakham Church perspective corrected.jpg|Aw Saunts Kirk frae fuitpath atween Kirk Street an Mercat Place
Image:Oakham_Church_and_cottage.jpg|Aw Saunts Kirk seen frae Northgate
Image:Oakhamfront.jpg|Oakham railway station
Image:OakhamStocks.jpg|The stocks, unner the Buttercross
Image:OakhamInscription.jpg|Inscription abuin the Auld Schuil door
Image:Oakham_Cutts_Close.jpg|Cutts Close pairk - leukin soothwast towards the oreeginal Oakham Schuil biggin, wi the baundstaund tae the richt
File:Hudson's Cottage, Oakham - geograph.org.uk - 65742.jpg|Plaque on Jeffery Hudson's Cottage
File:Dean's Street, Oakham - geograph.org.uk - 23833.jpg|Dean's Street, a quiet back street


## References

## Freemit airtins
* Community wabsteid 
* Oakham Schuil wabsteid
* Aw Saunts Kirk Oakham wabsteid 
* Catmose College wabsteid
* Oakham Castle wabsteid
* Link tae Rutland Coonty Cooncil wabsteid
* Oakham wirkhoose 
* Oakham Toun Cooncil