Rutland
 |
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| Geography | |
| Status | Unitary Ceremonial county |
|---|---|
| Origin | Historic |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Area - Total - Admin. council |
Ranked 45th 382 km² Ranked 118th |
| Admin HQ | Oakham |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-RUT |
| ONS code | 00FP |
| NUTS 3 | UKF22 |
| Demographics | |
| Population - Total (2004 est.) - Density - Admin. council |
Ranked 47th 36,500 93 / km² Ranked 348th |
| Ethnicity | 98.1% White |
| Politics | |
 Rutland County Council |
|
| Executive | Conservative |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Districts | |
|
N/A |
|
Rutland is traditionally England's smallest county and is bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest length north to south is only 18 miles, greatest breadth east to west, 17 miles. It is the smallest (in terms of population) normal unitary authority in mainland England (only the City of London is smaller), and is 348th of the 354 districts in terms of population.
The two principal towns are Oakham, the county town, and Uppingham. At the centre of the county is a large reservoir, Rutland Water, with a similar surface area to Lake Windermere, which is an important nature reserve, serving as an overwintering site for wildfowl and a breeding site for Ospreys. The town of Stamford is just over the border in a protruding part of Lincolnshire.
The highest point of the county is Cold Overton Park at 646 ft. (197 m).
The county's small size led ex-Monty Python man, Eric Idle to name his "solo" series Rutland Weekend Television. The most successful spin-off of this is The Rutles which mentions Rutland frequently as an in-joke. The castle in Oakham is little more than an old Great Hall, but features a large collection of horse-shoes. These have been presented over the years by royalty, and some are significantly more elaborate than others.
The Ruddles brewery was Langham's biggest industry until about 1985.
Rutland's older cottages are built from white limestone and many have roofs of Collyweston slate. The county used to supply iron ore to Corby steel works but these quarries closed in the 1960s. Agriculture thrives with much wheat farming on the rich soil. Tourism continues to grow.
History
The north-western part of the county was recorded as Rutland, a detached part of Nottinghamshire, in the Domesday Book; the south-eastern part as the wapentake of Wicelsea in Northamptonshire. It was first mentioned as a separate county in 1159, but as late as the 14th century it was referred to as the 'Soke of Rutland'. Historically it was also known as Rutlandshire, but in recent times only the shorter name is common.
By the 19th century it was divided into the hundreds of Alstoe, East, Martinsley, Oakham and Wrandike. In 1894 it was divided into three rural districts, Oakham Rural District, Uppingham Rural District and Ketton Rural District. Oakham was split out from Oakham Rural District in 1911 as an urban district.
The four district councils were abolished, and the administrative county was made a non-metropolitan district of Leicestershire in the local government reorganisation of 1974. It was restored to top-level authority status by popular demand on 1 April 1997, as part of the local government reform. There are 26 county councillors representing 16 wards.
Towns and villages
Places of interest
Rivers
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire and Rutland at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added4 | Agriculture1 | Industry2 | Services3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 6,666 | 145 | 2,763 | 3,758 |
| 2000 | 7,813 | 112 | 2,861 | 4,840 |
| 2003 | 9,509 | 142 | 3,045 | 6,321 |
Note 1: includes hunting and forestry
Note 2: includes energy and construction
Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
Trivia
Following Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait in August 1990, The Independent featured a cartoon with the sign 'Rutland: Twinned with Kuwait'.
| United Kingdom | England | Ceremonial counties of England |  |
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| United Kingdom | England | Traditional counties of England | |
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Counties that originate prior to 1889 Bedfordshire | Berkshire | Buckinghamshire | Cambridgeshire | Cheshire | Cornwall | Cumberland | Derbyshire | Devon | Dorset | Durham | Essex | Gloucestershire | Hampshire | Herefordshire | Hertfordshire | Huntingdonshire | Kent | Lancashire | Leicestershire | Lincolnshire | Middlesex | Norfolk | Northamptonshire | Northumberland | Nottinghamshire | Oxfordshire | Rutland | Shropshire | Somerset | Staffordshire | Suffolk | Surrey | Sussex | Warwickshire | Westmorland | Wiltshire | Worcestershire | Yorkshire |
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| Districts of the East Midlands | |
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Amber Valley | Ashfield | Bassetlaw | Blaby | Bolsover | Boston | Broxtowe | Charnwood | Chesterfield | Corby | Daventry | Derby | Derbyshire Dales | East Lindsey | East Northamptonshire | Erewash | Gedling | Harborough | High Peak | Hinckley and Bosworth | Kettering | Leicester | Lincoln | Mansfield | Melton | Newark and Sherwood | Northampton | North East Derbyshire | North Kesteven | North West Leicestershire | Nottingham | Oadby and Wigston | Rushcliffe | Rutland | South Derbyshire | South Holland | South Kesteven | South Northamptonshire | Wellingborough | West Lindsey |
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Counties with multiple districts: Derbyshire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - Northamptonshire - Nottinghamshire |
