Place:Thistleton, Rutland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Thistleton is the most northerly village in the county of Rutland, and a civil parish, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the village at the 2001 census was 99. It remained less than 100 at the 2011 census and was counted together with the civil parish of Stretton.

The village's name means 'farm/settlement which is thistly'.

The Thistleton area has shown evidence of Romano-British occupation including a large temple precinct and a possible small market settlement. To the north of the village there has been extensive mining for ironstone, a stone that has featured very prominently in the building of many churches and other buildings in the area for centuries. It was thought that the mining had obliterated evidence of the former greater extent of the village but much archaeology has survived showing that the original Romano-British settlement extended some at least. Extensive surveys, brought about by the planning of a haulage road to the quarry to pass through the site of the ancient township, revealed features including a well-preserved Roman road and the skeleton of a child buried well away from the cemetery. The archaeology is ongoing as the mining continues.

The village contains several listed buildings including the Old Rectory and the Church of St Nicholas. Many of the village’s buildings are stone-walled and thatched. Although the church is of medieval origin only the 14th century, three-stage tower, complete with gargoyles, remains. The church has been rebuilt in the late 18th by the Brudenells, and the rector, the Rev.d John Henry Fludyer, 4th Baronet to whose family the elaborate chancel is a memorial. The newer building is fourteenth century in style however the shape of the apse is, unusually, half an octagon externally and a semi-circular shape inside. Most of the internal fittings, including the font and the organ, are relatively modern.

Close by, to the south of the village, lies the RAF Cottesmore airfield established a few years before WWII. The airfield is now the Army's Kendrew Barracks.

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