More stories of uncovered treasures, war, and regal connections have been revealed recently, further enriching Oakham's long history.

In late December, The Rutland Local History & Record Society produced the forty-first issue of its annual journal, Rutland Record, which is now being distributed to the Society's members.

The new edition begins with an article by the Society's Honorary Editor, Tim Clough, about a remarkable hoard of Anglo-Saxon silver pennies which was found in 1749 by a local miller when some of the coins stuck to his muddy boots!

While the collection seems to have been rapidly dispersed and taken up by collectors, a few coins known to have come from the hoard can still be identified in museum collections, even as far afield as the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Tim said, "We don't know how many coins there were, but it was certainly several hundred. The hoard was deposited somewhere around AD980–985 during the reign of Æthelred II and is certainly one of the most important of that period ever found in Britain."

The second article in this issue is also by Tim Clough, and is all about the history of a small piece of land beside the Uppingham Road on the outskirts of Oakham where a windmill once stood, perhaps near where the coin hoard was found, although it hasn't been possible to identify the miller who found it.

This land, which had belonged to Thomas Sewell until his death in 1812, was sold in 1824 for £48, and the details are recorded in a deed or conveyance of that date which the Rutland Local History & Record Society purchased in 2020 so that it could be preserved with the county's archives.

With the aid of this deed Tim has been able to tell something of the story of the Sewells and the related Adcock family and also of windmills in the area: sadly Thomas Sewell's windmill was burnt down in 1814 through the carelessness of the miller, who hadn't fastened the sails properly when the wind got up and the machinery overheated.

Hazel Morgan is the author of the next article, which is based on the memoirs of her grandmother, May Moorhead, who was born in 1892 and moved to Whissendine with the rest of her family in 1900. She spent her childhood and teenage years there and much later, after she was widowed, she filled three notebooks recounting her memories of that time.

Her mother had married into the long-established Stafford family, and May lived in the village until her marriage in 1914, so her memoirs are rich in the detail of life in an agricultural community in the years leading up to the First World War. She proved to be very musical, and won prizes in the local music competitions for her piano playing. She was also an accomplished singer.

The article is illustrated with photographs of the time and descriptions of carol singing and Christmas festivities, and extracts from the memoirs paint a picture of country life in Edwardian England.

The final article, by Brian Needham, the Honorary Historian of Oakham School, turns to a period which will be familiar to many, the time fifty years ago when changes in circumstances revolutionised education in the county. When Rutland as a local education authority did not adopt the comprehensive school system, Oakham School decided to revert to full independence; Brian follows the arguments between the Trustees of the school, under its then Headmaster John Buchanan, and county council personalities such as Sir Kenneth Ruddle and Mrs Winifred Clark which led up to this fundamental change in 1970.

A year later – to the concern of some – the school admitted girls for the first time in its four-hundred-year history. In that first year, there were just 29 girls: what an impact they must have had on the 714 boys they joined!

The issue closes with reports of work carried out locally during 2020 despite the restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 epidemic, including finds recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Rutland such as a Bronze Age axehead dating from 1500–1300 BC, and annual reports on the activities of record offices and local societies with an interest in the history and archaeology of the county.

The Society's Chair, Debbie Frearson, said, "Once again, we are grateful for the expertise of contributors with a special interest in Rutland's long and varied history. Rutland Record is free to members, and we encourage anyone with an interest of Rutland's past to join us – full information about our other publications and our activities, including our meetings and how our programme is affected by the coronavirus epidemic, is given on our website, www.rutlandhistory.org."

Copies of the local registered charity's publication can be obtained as usual from the Rutland Local History & Record Society at the Rutland County Museum for £6.00 (plus £2.00 p&p), via local bookshops, or online.