Rutland Record 34 - Rutland’s Leighfield Forest and
Market Overton under the spotlight
This year’s issue of the Rutland Local History & Record Society’s annual
publication, Rutland Record, has just been distributed to members of the Society.
The main feature is an account of the many woodlands which formed Leighfield
Forest in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries by Anthony (Tony) Squires,
an expert on the history of woodland in the east Midlands who has got to know the
story of Rutland’s ancient forests better than anyone.
Tony’s article gives details of over fifty individual woodlands which are recorded in
documents dating from the thirteenth century onwards. He is able to locate most
of them in the parishes of Beaumont Chase, Belton, Braunston, Brooke, Leighfield,
Ridlington, Stoke Dry, Uppingham and Wardley. They were part of the medieval
Royal Forest of Rutland, which gradually fell into decay and became fragmented,
so that today only a few remnants of that old hunting forest remain: Prior’s
Coppice (which had once belonged to the prior of Brooke), Stoke Dry Wood and
Wardley Wood. Tony describes how these changes happened, how the woods were
managed, how big they were, and what species of tree were to be found. This
article completes the survey of Rutland’s ancient woodlands which he began in
Rutland Record 31 (published in 2011, still available).
The other main article in this issue is by Kate Cooper and looks at the early history
of Market Overton. She recounts the story of archaeological excavations which have
taken place on Roman and Anglo-Saxon sites in the parish, and sets the record
straight about the location of some of these important sites.
Finally, Dr Simon Dixon describes some of the resources in the University of
Leicester Library’s local history collection which will be helpful to anyone working
on the history of the County of Rutland.
As usual Rutland Record concludes with notes on a great variety of archaeological
and historical work, including building surveys, in Rutland during the previous year,
with reports from the museums, record offices and societies whose interests and
responsibilities cover the county’s heritage.
The Society’s Honorary Editor, Tim Clough, said, ‘Once again, we have been able to
harness the expertise of contributors with a special interest in aspects of Rutland’s
long and varied history. Rutland Record is included in our membership subscription,
as are monthly lectures and other events covering the widest range of periods and
subjects. We would encourage anyone with an interest of Rutland’s past to come
and join us – full information about publications and meetings is given on our
website, www.rutlandhistory.org’.
Copies of the new publication can be obtained as usual from the Rutland Local History & Record Society
at the Rutland County Museum for £4.50 (plus £1.25 p&p), via local bookshops, or Click here to order online
using our Genfair Service . ISBN-13: 978-0-907464-50-1.
For further information, please contact: Tim Clough, Honorary Editor, RLHRS, Rutland County Museum,
Catmose Street, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6HW, or tel 01572 722316, or e-mail book.orders@rutlandhistory.org.
