Oakham Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

In the heart of Oakham, the county town of tiny Rutland, survives one of the most telling witnesses of Anglo-Norman seigneurial dwelling: the great hall of a castle whose greater part has disappeared. Built around 1180–1190 of a fine oolitic limestone quarried at Clipsham, it is often described as the most complete Norman hall in England. It stands within a vast quadrangular enclosure bordered by a high bank, close to a low motte and the market place. The interior, divided into four bays by two rows of cylindrical columns with crocket capitals, recalls the choir of Canterbury Cathedral. The spandrels of the arches shelter small carved figures of musicians and the walls bear Romanesque corbels. The hall served for a very long time as an assize court and then a magistrates' court, and retains court furniture of the late 18th or early 19th century. Its fame rests above all on a singular custom: every peer of the realm passing through Oakham for the first time had to present a horseshoe to the lord of the manor. Hundreds of decorative horseshoes, some of monumental size, thus cover the walls. Managed by Rutland County Council, the hall can be visited free of charge and hosts weddings, concerts and events.