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RUTLAND |
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| Rutland, just 20 miles across, may be the smallest county in England but it's packed with a host of things for you to do. With its two bustling market towns, Oakham and Uppingham, and more than forty picturesque villages of thatched, stone-built cottages, there's so much to see in Rutland it's hard to know where to start.
Rutland's county town of Oakham, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, lays claim to England's smallest man, Jeffrey Hudson. Its castle, a fortified Norman manor house, with a collection of horse shoes gathered from visiting nobility including members of the Royal family, makes an ideal starting point for your visit. Clustered around it are the Market Place, Butter Cross and Stocks and numerous small shops selling a wide range of high-class goods. Uppingham has many antique and antiquarian bookshops and art galleries. |
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You'll find plenty of opportunities to enjoy an active break in Rutland. Water sports enthusiasts should head for Rutland Water where you can hire a canoe or rowing boat to paddle around the sheltered creek and harbour at Whitwell. If you're feeling a little more energetic, you could even launch a sailboard or boat and strike out further across the reservoir. Cycle hire is also available and for the really energetic there is a 25 mile cycling and walking circuit around the water. For the keen angler Rutland Water is a must, it provides some of the best trout fishing in Europe. Learn to fish with the experts: special all-inclusive angling packages can be arranged including tackle and motorboat hire. |
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Seaton Viaduct |
Sailing - Rutland Water |
Kirby Hall |
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| Some interesting places to visit around Rutland include, Barnsdale Gardens, familiar to millions of BBC2 viewers as the home of Geoff Hamilton and Gardeners World. The gardens comprise 37 individual gardens and features that all blend together by linking borders into one 8 acre garden Burghley House, home of the famous Burghley horse trials is well worth a visit. It’s the largest and grandest example of the first Elizabethan Age. Built and mostly designed by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer of England, between 1565 and 1587. It’s worth visiting the Nene Valley Railway, a preservation railway running along a 7.5 mile standard gauge line through the valley of the River Nene between Wansford and Peterborough Whatever you choose to do, you'll find that Rutland is England's best kept secret, set amidst part of the English countryside that's largely undiscovered and still totally unspoilt. |
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