Oakham Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Oakham Castle |
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The Great Hall of Oakham Castle 2014
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| Location | Oakham, Rutland |
| Built | 12th century |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Designated | 8 May 1950 |
| Reference no. | 1073277 |
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Oakham Castle is a historic building located in Oakham, Rutland, England. It is famous for its amazing collection of giant horseshoes! The castle is also known as one of the best examples of Norman architecture in England. Norman architecture is a style of building from the 11th and 12th centuries.
Oakham Castle is a Grade I listed building, which means it's a very important historic site protected by law. The Rutland County Council owns and manages the castle. You can even have weddings and other special events there. The best part is that admission to the castle is free for everyone to enjoy.
The Castle's History
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Oakham Castle was built a long, long time ago, between 1180 and 1190. It was built by a person named Walkelin de Ferrers, who was the lord of the manor of Oakham.
The main part of the castle you see today is called the Great Hall. It has a large central area and two side sections, supported by three big stone columns. You can see beautiful 12th-century sculptures decorating the hall, including six musicians carved into the stone. These sculptures were made from local stone found at Clipsham. It's thought that the same skilled workers who built parts of Canterbury Cathedral also worked on Oakham Castle.
Oakham Castle has been a place of justice for a very long time. A special court, called a Crown Court, has been held in the castle every two years since 1229. This makes it one of the longest-running places for justice in England!
The gateway you see today, which leads into the market place, looks a lot like gateways at a place called Burley-on-the-Hill. It's believed that George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham built this gateway in the early 1600s.
For many years, Oakham Castle was the meeting place for the Rutland County Council. This started after a law was passed in 1888 that created county councils. The council met there until 1936, when they moved to a new building called Catmose House.
In 2012, the TV show Time Team, which is about archaeology, filmed an episode at Oakham Castle. The show was later broadcast in 2013.
The castle was closed for a while to undergo a big restoration project. This included fixing the curtain wall, which is the outer wall of the castle. In 2014, Oakham Castle received a large grant of £2.165 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This money helped with the repairs and improvements. The castle officially reopened to visitors on May 30, 2016.
What Oakham Castle Looks Like
Oakham Castle might not look like the big, traditional castles you see in movies. That's because what we call Oakham Castle today was actually the Great Hall of a much larger fortified manor house. A manor house is like a big country house.
This manor house had many features you would expect from a castle. It had a curtain wall (a strong outer wall), a gatehouse (a building over the entrance), and even a drawbridge with iron chains. There is also evidence that the original Oakham Castle had towers at important points along its walls and a moat (a ditch filled with water) around it.
An old illustration from a book called Mediaeval England shows that the main doorway was once in a different spot than it is today. It also shows that the castle didn't have dormer windows (windows that stick out from the roof) back then.
The Famous Horseshoes
Oakham Castle has a very special and unique tradition. When important people, known as peers of the realm, visit Oakham for the first time, they must give a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor of Oakham. Today, there are 230 horseshoes decorating the walls of Oakham Castle!
This tradition is thought to be connected to the de Ferrers family name. "Ferrier" was the old Norman French word for a farrier, which is someone who shoes horses. The horseshoe has been a symbol of the de Ferrers family since Henry de Ferrers came to England in 1066. The horseshoe is so important that it's even used as a symbol for the county of Rutland. You can see it on the county council's coat of arms and on the flag of Rutland.
The oldest horseshoe in the castle's collection was given by King Edward IV in 1470. He presented it after his victory at the Battle of Losecoat Field. More recently, members of the Royal Family have continued this tradition. The Princess Royal presented a horseshoe in 1999. King Charles III (when he was Prince of Wales) gave one in 2003. Princess Alexandra added one in 2005. Queen Camilla (when she was Duchess of Cornwall) presented one in 2014. And most recently, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh presented a horseshoe in 2024.
