| Burley | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Burley Location withinRutland | |
| Area | 4.8 sq mi (12 km2) [1] |
| Population | 577 2001 census[2] |
| • Density | 120/sq mi (46/km2) |
| OS grid reference | SK882104 |
| • London | 86 miles (138 km) SSE |
| Unitary authority | |
| Shire county | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | OAKHAM |
| Postcode district | LE15 |
| Dialling code | 01572 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| 52°41′N0°42′W / 52.68°N 0.70°W /52.68; -0.70 | |
Burley, orBurley-on-the-Hill, is a village andcivil parish in the county ofRutland in theEast Midlands of England. It is two miles (3 km) north-east ofOakham. The population of the civil parish was 577 at the 2001 census, includingEgleton, but reducing to 325 at the 2011 census.[3]
The village's name means "wood/clearing with a fortification".[4]
In the parish, north of the village, isAlstoe, the site of a possible smallmotte-and-bailey castle,[5] and part of thedeserted medieval village ofAlsthorpe.[6] Alstoe was the name of ahundred.
In 1379 Sir Thomas le Despenser granted the Burley manor to trustees, two of whom were his brotherHenry, Bishop of Norwich and his nephew Hugh le Despenser. Thomas died without issue in 1381, when at the outbreak of thePeasants' Revolt, Henry was at Burley and travelled to Norwich to confront the rebels.[7]
The Old Smithy on thevillage green was used in advertisements forCherry Blossom shoe polish in the 1920s.
HM Prison Ashwell was located about one mile (2 km) west of the centre of the village on what was previously the site of a Second World War US Army base, home to part of the82nd Airborne Division. Ashwell Prison closed in March 2011 and has been redeveloped as Oakham Enterprise Park, abusiness park for office and light industrial use.
Burley House in the village now overlooksRutland Water. The first house was owned bySir John Harington of Exton. On New Year's Day 1596 he produced a performance ofTitus Andronicus and amasque written by his brother-in-lawSir Edward Wingfield at Burley.[8] Harington's daughterLucy Russell, Countess of Bedford sold Burley toGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham in 1620 for £28,000.[9]
Buckingham producedBen Jonson's masqueThe Gypsies Metamorphosed at Burley in August 1621 to celebrate his marriage toKatherine Manners.Nicholas Lanier supervised the music.King James andPrince Charles were present.[10] Later in the year, Buckingham requested Scottish fir tree seeds and saplings for the park from theEarl of Mar, and 1624 theEarl of Northumberland sent 1,000 walnut trees.[11]
A new house, designed in the manner associated with SirChristopher Wren, was built in the 1690s[12] byDaniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea, who was to a large extent his own architect and involved himself in the minutiae of construction, but employed Henry Dormer (died 1727) to supervise its building. Nottingham replaced Dormer with John Lumley in 1697.[13] Before embarking on the project, Lord Nottingham consulted Wren and had measurements taken atBerkeley House andMontagu House in London.[14] The house, in an H-plan, has apedimented central block and lightly projecting endpavilions, the central house is 200 feet long with fifteen windows. With its symmetrical wings and outbuildings forming acour d'honneur, and segmental walling linking matching blocks in a larger outer grassed court, it forms one of the most ambitious aristocratic ensembles of the late 17th century.
A dining room was designed forDaniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, and installed in 1778.[15]
In 1908 a fire broke out during a party attended byWinston Churchill, destroying the west part of the house.
The mansion was converted into six dwellings byKit Martin in 1993–98, with a further 22 dwellings on the estate. Previously the estate had been purchased byAsil Nadir in 1991.
The church of the Holy Cross, adjacent to the mansion, is in the care of theChurches Conservation Trust. It contains a moving memorial by SirFrancis Chantrey toLady Charlotte Finch (1820).[16]
Avro VulcanXM604 of9 Squadron crashed at 13:24 on Tuesday 30 January 1968, 20 yards from the house of Geoffrey Eayrs. The Vulcan was inverted when it crashed and totally disintegrated. It was witnessed by resident Colonel SirRoland Findlay.
It killed four aircrew
Only Michael Whelan was not married. The wife of Stephen Sumpter had a baby two days before.
Pilot Peter Charles Tait, aged 25, ofFarlington, Hampshire near Portsmouth, and co-pilot Michael John Gillett, of theIsle of Man, ejected to safety, because only the two pilots had any ejection seats. The pilot landed near the house, and the co-pilot landed in a ploughed field around half a mile away. The pilot called in at the house, having narrowly missed the house with his four-engined aircraft, and asked the house owner if he could make a telephone call.[17][18][19]
The funeral of Michael Whelan took place in Ireland on 5 February, and the funeral of the other three aircrew was on 6 February atSt Nicholas' Church, Cottesmore.
George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea, lived at the mansion in the late 18th century and usedits grounds to stage a number ofcricket matches, six of themfirst-class, between 1790 and 1793.[20] As late as 1814, the venue was used for a Rutland vNottingham game.
Media related toBurley, Rutland at Wikimedia Commons
