Ketton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

of England. It is about east of

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

and west of

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,926, making it the fourth largest settlement in Rutland, after Oakham,

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ...

and Cottesmore. The village has an outstanding primary school with 204 children currently on roll. Ketton gave its name to the Ketton Rural District of Rutland which existed from 1894 to 1974. Ketton ward, which also includes the parishes of

Barrowden Barrowden is a village in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. ] The village's name means 'burial-mound hill'. There are a number of Tumulus, barrows in the area. The population of the civil parish was 506 at the 2011 census. There i ...

Tinwell Tinwell is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population at the 2001 census was 209, increasing to 234 at the 2011 census. Village The village's name origin is dubious. Possibly, 'spring/str ...

and

Tixover Tixover is a small village and civil parish in Rutland. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 174, falling to 163 at the 2011 census. The village's name means 'ridge with young goats'. The second element derives from either th ...

has two councillors on

Rutland County Council Rutland County Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The current council was created in April 1997. The population of the council's area at the 2011 census was 37,369. As a unitar ...

Village

The village's name origin is dubious. Maybe, 'river of Ceta', with the subsequent component later remodelled as the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

'tun'. Otherwise, this is potentially an old name for the

River Chater The River Chater is a river in the East Midlands of England. It is a tributary of the River Welland, and is about long. Course It rises near Whatborough Hill in Leicestershire, and then flows east, past Sauvey Castle and Launde Abbey, befor ...

or the Old English tribal name, 'Cetan'. It was originally three separate settlements: Ketton, Aldgate and Geeston; but as they grew they merged to form the village that Ketton is today. The village has a post office and general store, a library, two pubs (the Railway Inn and the Northwick Arms), a sports centre, a playschool and a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

primary school. The village has two churches (Church of England and Methodist). The earliest parts of St Mary's Church, the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

, are 12th century. The church has a central tower and spire. The west front is an example of late 12th century transitional architecture and the remainder of the church is mainly 13th century. The nave was restored under the direction of

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

in 1861–62 and the chancel under the direction of his pupil

Thomas Graham Jackson Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British architects of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at Oxford, including the Oxford Military College at Cowl ...

in 1863–66. Jackson's chancel roof was painted by

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the de ...

in 1950. The stone is from

Barnack Barnack is a village and civil parish, now in the Peterborough unitary authority of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England and the historic county of Northamptonshire. Barnack is in the north-west of the unitary authority, south-east ...

. There are Ketton headstones in the churchyard; one by the lychgate depicts mason's tools and is by stonemason William Hibbins of Ketton. William Hibbins built Hibbins House, which is still standing today. The spire is 144 feet (44 metres) high.

Robert of Ketton Robert of Ketton, known in Latin as Rodbertus Ketenensis ( 1141–1157), was an English astronomer, translator, priest and diplomat active in Spain. He translated several works of Arabic into Latin, including the first translation of the Quran int ...

was the first person to translate the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. The translation was complete by 1143.

Ketton stone and cement

The village gives its name to Ketton stone, a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

which is quarried locally and is used in many buildings in the village and elsewhere. Some areas of former quarrying, Ketton Quarries, are now a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

, maintained by

Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust The Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts across the United Kingdom. It manages nature reserves in Leicestershire and Rutland, and was founded in 1956 as the Leicestershire and Rutland Trust for Nature Con ...

. The limestone is used to make

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

. Ketton Cement Works opened in 1928 and by November that year the number of staff had risen to 250. The plant, owned by

Hanson Cement Hanson Cement is a cement production company located in the United Kingdom. It was called Castle Cement until it was rebranded in 2009. The company is now owned by HeidelbergCement. History The company was formed in 1981 through an amalgamatio ...

(now part of

HeidelbergCement HeidelbergCement is a German multinational building materials company headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany. It is a DAX corporation and is one of the largest building materials companies in the world. On 1 July 2016, HeidelbergCement AG complet ...

), meets more than 10% of the UK demand for cement. In 2013 Rutland County Council approve
plans
for Lark Energy to build a solar farm on land reclaimed from a 1940s quarry. The solar farm provides 13% of the cement work's annual energy consumption. The second phase was opened in 2015 by Secretary of State for Energy

Amber Rudd Amber Augusta Rudd (born 1 August 1963) is a British former politician who served as Home Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2018 to 2019. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye, fir ...

Wind energy in Ketton

In 2004

planning committee resolved to approve a planning application for one

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

on land adjacent to the cement works off Steadfold Lane in Ketton. However, issues surrounding fast jets flying from

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the ...

meant that a planning permission was never granted. In 2011 REG Windpower announce
plans
to install two wind turbines near Steadfold Lane. The proposal was withdrawn in August 2012.

Transport

Ketton is served by buses on the service between Stamford and

. Ketton and Collyweston railway station closed in 1966.

References

External links