Oakham Castle, East Midlands, England

A castle or manor house has been here since at least Anglo-Saxon times, which may have been a royal hall before the Norman Conquest.  In the 12th century the keep was built which is all that remains of the castle today.

Oakham doesn’t look anything like a castle today, it appears more of a manor or a church but in fact this was the original keep. The defensive wall has disappeared over time.

There is a rather odd tradition here where the visitor gives a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor.  Legend says that this dates back to the de Ferriers family who built the keep in the 12th century.  Ferrier being the Norman-French word for Farrier, which may have started as a medieval jest. Edward IV presented the oldest surviving horseshoe in the collection in 1470, after the Battle of Empingham, also known as the battle of Losecoat Field due to the soldiers taking off their coats when they fled as to not be recognised by their livery.