Oakham Castle
 Castles |
Of Oakham Castle all that survives is the banqueting hall, built by the Norman lord Walkelin de Ferrers about 1180-90; the name Ferrers means farrier or blacksmith. It is the earliest hall in any English castle surviving so completely, and it is doubly interesting in that it belonged not to a castle strictly speaking, but rather to a fortified manor house. The site was surrounded by a bank of earth and does not seem to have received encircling stone walls before the 13 th century. Oakham is not unique in this; Westminster Palace is another, much grander example. We see the hall today as a court-house, 60 ft long and 44 ft wide, its gables crowned with curious carvings; the handsome aisles and decorated doorways have fascinated visitors down the centuries.
The walls of the medieval castle hall are decorated with more than 200 horseshoes of all sizes and all kinds. Some have been neglected and allowed to rust and hang sadly in direct contrast with others that are brightly gilded; there are very small ones and others over one metre high. Many of them bear crowns and all display the names of their respective owners. Through many centuries it has remained one of Oakham's quaint customs to take a horseshoe from every visiting monarch or peer in lieu of a toll for passing through the town. This is a custom dating, perhaps, from the time when the Conqueror's Farrier lived in the town; it was his descendants who built the hall. Among the horseshoes on the wall is one said to have been presented by Elizabeth I.