Great Casterton, Rutland
Historical Description
Casterton Magna, or Great or Bridge Casterton, a parish in Rutland, on Ermine Street and the river Gwash, 2 miles W.from Ryhall station on the G.N.R., and 2½ NW of Stamford. It has a post office, of the name of Great Casterton, under Stamford, which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage, 2303; population of the civil parish, 277; of the ecclesiastical, 448. The manor belonged formerly to the Husseys, the Scroops, the Delawarrs, the Wodeheads, and others, and belongs now to the Marquess of Exeter. A Roman station, burnt by the Picts, is known to have been here. The entire present graveyard, given from the rectory garden in 1892, was found in 1893 to be honeycombed with foundations, hypocausts, &c., and coins of Allectus (A.D. 301) 4 feet from the surface. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Pickworth, in the diocese of Peterborough; net yearly value, £350 with residence, in the gift of the Marquess of Exeter. The church was Later English, but has been rebuilt. There is a handsome and perfect Saxon font.
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 | Casterton St. Peter and St. Paul | |
| Hundred | East | |
| Poor Law union | Stamford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish registers date from the year 1665.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Great Casterton:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1665-1891 | 1754-1927 | 1665-1931 | 1665-1941 |
Churches
Church of England
SS. Peter and Paul (parish church)
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is an ancient battlemented edifice of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with four pinnacles and containing 5 bells: there is a small memorial window to Henry Herbert, son of Edward and Mary Elizabeth May, dated 1857; in 1905 two windows were filled with stained glass in memory of the Rt. Rev. James Atlay D.D. Bishop of Hereford 1868-95, and his parents: the font is Norman; 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 Great Casterton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Casterton, Great (St. Peter and St. Paul))
- 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 Great Casterton 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.