Greetham, Rutland
Historical Description
Greetham, a village and a parish in Rutland. The village stands on an affluent of the river Gwash, 3½ miles E of the Melton-Mowbray Canal, 4 NNW from Empingham, 5 E from Asbwell station on the M.R., and 6 NE from Oakham, and possessed some importance in the Saxon times. It has a post office under Oakham; money order and telegraph office, Cottesmore. The parish comprises 3081 acres; population, 537. The manor belongs to the Finch family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, net yearly value, ½£191 with residence. The church is ancient, has a tower and lofty spire, and was restored in 1860. There are Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan chapels, and several useful 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 | Greetham 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 1576.
Findmypast, in association with the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland, have the following parish records online for Greetham:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1576-1916 | 1754-1931 | 1579-1931 | 1578-1978 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary, erected about 1057, is a building of stone in the Transitional and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a fine Decorated western tower, with broach spire, containing 5 bells: in 1923 the four old bells were recast and a new tenor bell presented by Mrs. Sheldon in memory of her husband: in 1928 the bells were rehung and again recast as a memorial to the parishioners who fell in the Great War, 1914-18: the east window was restored in 1889 in memory of the Rev. Thomas Henry Jones M.A. vicar here 1857-67, and a former rector of Ashwell, d. 1889: there are some monuments to the Cumbrey family, dated 1725: the church was partially restored in 1860, when a stained window was presented by Mr. Thomas Charity Halliday, and there are two memorial windows in the chancel to the Rev. Charles Allison Holmes M.A. d. Dec. 24th, 1896, for 19 years vicar of this parish: a considerable portion of the church and the spire was restored in 1897 at the expense of Mrs. Edith Finch, of Burley-on-the-Hill: there are 350 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 Greetham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Greetham (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 Greetham 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.