Great Casterton

---

title: "Great Casterton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-rutland", "roman-sites-in-england", "civil-parishes-in-rutland"] description: "Village in Rutland, England" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Casterton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in Rutland, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
country	England
official_name	Great Casterton
region	East Midlands
static_image_name	Saint Peter and Paul's Church, Great Casterton - geograph.org.uk - 732997.jpg
static_image_caption	Church of St Peter and St Paul, Great Casterton
area_footnotes
area_total_sq_mi	3.6
population	600
population_ref	(Including Tickencote)2011 Census
population_density	121 /sqmi
os_grid_reference	TF005090
coordinates
post_town	STAMFORD
postcode_district	PE9
postcode_area	PE
dial_code	01780
constituency_westminster	Rutland and Stamford
london_distance	83 mi SSE
unitary_england	Rutland
shire_county	Rutland
::

|country =England |official_name =Great Casterton |region=East Midlands |static_image_name= Saint Peter and Paul's Church, Great Casterton - geograph.org.uk - 732997.jpg |static_image_caption= Church of St Peter and St Paul, Great Casterton |area_footnotes= |area_total_sq_mi=3.6 | population = 600 | population_ref = (Including Tickencote)2011 Census |population_density= 121 /sqmi |os_grid_reference= TF005090 |coordinates = |post_town= STAMFORD |postcode_district= PE9 |postcode_area= PE |dial_code= 01780 |constituency_westminster= Rutland and Stamford |london_distance= 83 mi SSE |unitary_england= Rutland |shire_county= Rutland |website= Great Casterton is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in England. It is located at the crossing of the Roman Ermine Street and the River Gwash.

Geography

The village is approximately three miles to the north-west of Stamford and very close to the county border with Lincolnshire (South Kesteven). Just to the north is Tickencote.

The parish boundary, to the south and east, lies close to the village, and follows the River Gwash. Just west of the B1081 bridge over the Gwash, it borders Tinwell. Just to the west of Ingthorpe (part of Tinwell), it borders Tickencote. The parish boundary crosses the A1 at the turn off for the village. The boundary then follows the A1 north, along the next hedge to the east (a field's width). It passes to the east of Tickencote Warren, and at Exeter Gorse it briefly borders Horn, then meets Pickworth. It passes to the south of Eayres Lodge, includes Woodhead, crossing Pickworth Road south of Taylor's Farm. West of Tolethorpe Oaks, it briefly meets Ryhall, then borders Little Casterton southwards, passing Frith Farm to the west and broadly follows the Danelaw Way. North of Little Casterton village, the boundary meets the Gwash.

The A1 road which follows the path of Ermine Street, ran through the centre of the village until the construction of the Stamford bypass in 1960; the former route of the Great North Road is now the B1081.

There is a very small nature reserve, Great Casterton Road Banks, to the south of the village containing examples of rare plants such as Sulphur Clover and Greater Broomrape.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Great_Casterton_Roman_Town_-geograph.org.uk-_132451.jpg" caption="Roman town"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/The_Old_Rectory_Great_Casterton.jpg" caption="The Rectory and Parish Church in 1912"] ::

The village's name means 'farm/settlement which was/near a 'chester', Roman site'.

The earliest recorded settlement was a Roman fort ca 44 AD. A civilian settlement (vicus) developed which was later a walled town and the defences are still apparent. Archaeological excavations have been conducted on the town, a villa near the Gwash and burials including early Anglo-Saxons. The 2015 discovery of a skeleton secured at the ankles with a locked set of iron fetters is thought to be evidence of slavery in Roman Britain.

The Church of England parish church, dedicated to St Peter & St Paul, is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The churchyard is entered through an arched war memorial remembering the dead of both World Wars. The benefice is shared with Pickworth, Tickencote and Little Casterton. The poet John Clare was married to Martha "Patty" Turner at Great Casterton church in 1820.

Two miles north of the village are the earthwork remains of Woodhead Castle, a medieval moated ringwork with attached bailey.

Amenities

The village has both a primary school, Great Casterton Church of England Primary School, and a secondary, Casterton College. The remaining pub in the village is the Crown Inn.

References

References

1. "A vision of Britain through time". University of Portsmouth.
2. (2011). "Rutland Civil Parish Populations". Rutland County Council.
3. "Key to English Place-names".
4. (10 June 2023). "Roman Britain - Organisation".
5. (8 June 2021). "Shackled skeleton find in Rutland 'evidence of Roman slavery'". BBC News.
6. {{NHLE

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::