Oakham

Oakham is the historic County Town of Rutland. It is centred around a castle, church and public school. This friendly market town has much to offer. It has a host of individual character shops on or around High Street and Mill Street selling designer clothing, handmade jewellery classic furniture and much more. Oakham has a wide choice of places to eat and drink, ranging from coffee shops and 'take-aways' to sophisticated restaurants and its renowned Grainstore Brewery. There are two major supermarkets one in the town and another on the outskirts towards Burley. Oakham Market place changes from a car park to a genuine market each Wednesday and Saturday with additional Farmer's Market stalls in Gaol Street every third Saturday in the month.

It is well worth taking a leisurely walk around Oakham, perhaps following the published Oakham Heritage Trail. Places of interest include: All Saints Church, Oakham Castle, Hudson's Cottage, Dean Street, Flore's House, Oakham School, The Market Place, Butter Cross and Pump, Cutt's Close, Rutland County Museum and Visitor's Centre, Rutland County Library & Oakham Signal Box.

Oakham is also famous for its horseshoes. It has been the custom for over 500 years for visiting royalty to pay the Town a forfeit of a horseshoe. Oakham Castle contains a fine collection of these decorative horseshoes. They all hang upside-down as it is believed in Rutland that this will stop the Devil from sitting in the middle. The upside-down horseshoe motif has been widely adopted in Rutland, and is now synonymous with the county. 

Link to more Oakham Images

As can be seen from the photos below Oakham still retains many wonderful features from bygone years.

     Link to source of Old Photos

But there are changes taking place, like the long awaited bypass which should open in 2006