Empingham

Empingham
Looking south along Empingham Church Street
Empingham is located in Rutland
Empingham
Empingham
Location within Rutland
Area7.62 sq mi (19.7 km2[1]
Population815 (2001 Census)[2]
• Density107/sq mi (41/km2)
OS grid referenceSK949085
• London83 miles (134 km) SSE
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townOAKHAM
Postcode districtLE15
Dialling code01780
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Rutland
52°39′59″N 0°35′47″W / 52.666389°N 0.596389°W / 52.666389; -0.596389

Empingham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish was 815 at the 2001 census including Horn and increasing to 880 at the 2011 census.[3] It lies close to the dam of Rutland Water and the A606 runs through the village. During construction, Empingham Reservoir was the name of the reservoir but it was renamed Rutland Water to preserve the name of the county which was being merged with Leicestershire.

The village's name means 'farm/settlement of the people of Empa'.[4]

The church of St Peter was a Peculiar of the see of Lincoln. When the diocese of Peterborough was created, this church remained tied to Lincoln Cathedral and the title of a Prebend there.

To the north east on the Great North Road (now A1) the Battle of Empingham was fought in 1470 as part of the Wars of the Roses. The battle is also known as Battle of Losecoat Field (or Losecote Field), supposedly because the defeated Lancastrians, when fleeing, threw off the distinguishing clothing. However the name probably predates the battle and means pigsty field. Forms of Losecote also appear as field names in other parishes in Rutland. Contemporary accounts refer to the battle site as Hornfield. An adjacent woodland is now called Bloody Oaks.

Aerial view of Rutland Water with Empingham and its dam at the top at centre left
  1. ^ "A vision of Britain through time". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  2. ^ "Rutland Civil Parish Populations" (PDF). Rutland County Council. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  3. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  4. ^ Empingham nottingham.ac.uk [dead link]