Empingham, Rutland
Historical Description
Empingham, a village and a parish in Rutland. The village stands on the river Gwash, 3½ miles NNW from Ketton station on the M.R., and 6 WNW from Stamford; was once a market-town; is traditionally said to have been anciently an important town, containing two churches. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Stamford. The parish comprises 4875 acres; population, 688. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough; gross value, £380 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Peterborough. The church is Early English, with Norman arches, and has a curious handsome tower. There is a Wesleyan chapel. The parish has a share in Forster's charities.
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 | Empingham St. Peter | |
| Hundred | East | |
| 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 1559.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Empingham:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1563-1916 | 1755-1888 | 1563-1931 | 1563-1948 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter, formerly the seat of a prebend, is a large edifice of stone, in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, transepts, south porch, and a fine embattled western tower with pinnacles and spire containing a clock and 6 bells, 5 of which were re-cast and a new bell added in 1895: the chancel retains sedilia and a double piscina, and a priest's doorway; the present transepts were formerly chantry chapels; the Early English south transept has considerable remains of wall painting and two piscinae, as well as a square-headed recess; probably a founder's tomb: in the north-east wall of the nave is one of the original clerestory windows, a plain circular opening: in the north wall of the north transept is a tomb attributed to one of the Normanvills, and also some wall painting: the 17th century pulpit has been reset on a stone base: some of the windows still have remains of ancient heraldic glass: the church was thoroughly restored in 1894-95, when the old pews were removed and the floor re-laid, at a cost of nearly £3,000: there are 350 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Empingham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Empingham (St. Peter))
- 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 Empingham 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.