Ashwell, Rutland
Historical Description
Ashwell, a parish in Rutland, on the M.R., 3½ miles N of Oakham, under which it has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage, 1835; population, 244. The manor, known in the Saxon times as Exwell, belonged to Earl Harold, and passed in the time of Edward III. to the Touchets, and afterwards to others. The living is a rectory in .the diocese of Peterborough; value, £605. Patron, Viscount Downe. The church is a handsome edifice, with a tower, and contains three interesting altar-tombs. Ashwell Hall is a fine mansion, erected in 1879.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Rutlandshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Ashwell St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Alstoe | |
| Poor Law union | Oakham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1595.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Ashwell:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1595-1916 | 1754-1887 | 1598-1931 | 1595-1991 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin is a building of stone in the Norman and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with small turret containing a clock and 6 bells: the chancel retains three sedilia and a small piscina: the stained east window is a memorial to the Hon. and Rev. Thomas Dawnay, rector of Ashwell from 1803, d. 8 Jan. 1850: the west window, a memorial to William Henry, 7th Viscount Downe, d. 26 Jan. 1857, was inserted by the parishioners in 1858, and there are other stained windows: in the chancel is an altar tomb of stone, supporting a large upper slab of marble, with incised effigies and marginal inscription to John Vernam and Rose his wife, ob. c. 1470: there are also two other altar tombs, one of which bears the recumbent figure of a knight carved in wood: the stone font has a spired cover of carved oak, hung from the roof: the church was restored in 1851, under the direction of Mr. W. Butterfield, architect, at the sole expense of the 7th Viscount Downe; there are 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Ashwell from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ashwell (St. Mary))
- Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire and Rutland, 1928
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Rutland is online.
Maps
Online maps of Ashwell are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Rutland, 1618-19 and The Visitation of Rutland 1681-2 are available to browse on the Heraldry page.