Rutland County Museum is located in

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 ...

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 old Riding School of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry which was built in 1794–95. The museum, opened in 1969, houses a collection of objects relating to local rural and agricultural life, social history and archaeology. Temporary exhibitions are shown alongside the permanent displays. Admission to the museum is free.

Collection

The Museum's original collections were those transferred to it when it was set up by the former

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 unit ...

in 1967. These were the rural life collection of E G Bolton from Casterton Secondary Modern School and the mainly archaeological collection from Oakham School. Over the years the Museum has grown and it now has an extensive rural life collection which includes farm tools, tractors, wagons and a wide range of rural tradesmen's tools. In addition it also houses domestic and social history items, along with a large collection of archaeological material from around Rutland. One of the more thought-provoking items on display is the New Drop

Gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

. It is thought to be the only surviving gallows of its type in the UK. The gallows were portable and were set up at the front of Oakham Gaol when needed. The gallows was first used in 1813 to hang two burglars. The New Drop design was not to be very effective as the drop was too short to break the neck cleanly. The Museum has one of the oldest surviving box wagons in the country. Built in Lincolnshire and used on a farm in

Preston, Rutland Preston is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It lies north of Uppingham on the A6003 to Oakham. The population at the 2001 census was 179 falling slightly to 173 at the 2011 census. The v ...

it dates from 1755–1795 and is unusual due to its wooden axles. One of the smaller items on display includes the

Brooke Brooke may refer to: People * Brooke (given name) * Brooke (surname) * Brooke baronets, families of baronets with the surname Brooke Places * Brooke, Norfolk, England * Brooke, Rutland, England * Brooke, Virginia, US * Brooke's Point, Palawan ...

Reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including '' phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fer ...

. This small casket dates from the 13th Century and originates from the workshops in

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, France and is believed to have held the relics of a saint. The reliquary was discovered in c.1805, after years of being concealed on the site of Brooke Priory, when building work was carried out in the cellar of Priory House. The reliquary is decorated with

Limoges enamel Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal ...

work in shades of blue, red, yellow and green with images of Christ with two apostles or saints. The robes on the saints are engraved on copper plates which were originally gilded, but this has now worn away.

Local Studies Collection

The Local Studies collection was moved from Oakham Library to the museum in 2010 and comprises a large collection of materials and resources on Rutland and the surrounding villages. It includes census records for Rutland, photographs of local villages, the Jack Hart postcard collection, Ordnance Survey maps of Rutland, editions of local newspapers and offers access to ancestry.co.uk (library edition). The collection also contains a wide range of reference books.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 52.6679, -0.7255, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 1967 establishments in England History of Rutland Museums established in 1967 Museums in Rutland Local museums in Rutland Oakham