Whitwell, Rutland

Whitwell
Whitwell
	Church of St Michael and All Angels, Whitwell
	Whitwell Location within Rutland
Area	0.98 sq mi (2.5 km2) [1]
Population	41 2001 Census[2]
• Density	42/sq mi (16/km2)
OS grid reference	SK923088
• London	84 miles (135 km) SSE
Unitary authority	Rutland;
Shire county	Rutland;
Ceremonial county	Rutland;
Region	East Midlands;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	OAKHAM
Postcode district	LE15
Dialling code	01572
Police	Leicestershire
Fire	Leicestershire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Rutland and Melton;

Whitwell is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population at the 2001 census was 41. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and was included together with the neighbouring parish of Exton.

The Great Tower sculpture on the shore of Rutland Water

It is located on the A606, about four miles (6 km) east of Oakham, on the north shore of Rutland Water with car parking off Bull Brig Lane. Whitwell Harbour is a popular sailing and water sports area and a pleasure boat known as the Rutland Belle operates from the harbour. Whitwell is one of the smallest villages in Rutland; it only has 19 houses, plus The Noel pub, the name of which comes from the Earls of Gainsborough, who were landholders in the area.[3]

The village's name means 'spring/stream which is white', probably meaning it was infertile.[4]

Whitwell claims to be twinned with Paris, France. In 1980, regulars from the pub, the Noel Arms wrote to the then Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac proposing the link and with a tight deadline for a response. As no answer arrived from the Mayor's office by the set date, the village unilaterally declared itself to be twinned and erected road signs to that effect.[5][6] The original wooden signs were later replaced in metal by Rutland County Council.[7]

References

"A vision of Britain through time". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
"Rutland Civil Parish Populations" (PDF). Rutland County Council. 2001. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
Poulton-Smith, Anthony (2008). Leicestershire and Rutland Place-names. History Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7509-5045-9.
http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Rutland/Whitwell%
Story of how Whitwell came to be twinned with Paris, as told to Parliament by local MP Alan Duncan in 1992. (Scroll down to bottom of "Column 1137")
A column from the Guardian, 19 April 2003, mentioning how Whitwell became twinned with Paris. (about 2/3 of the way down)
"European elections 2019: The village (Sort of) twinned with Paris". BBC News. 21 May 2019.

External links

A 1980 regional news report from ATV on the twinning celebrations from the Media Archive for Central England

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "A vision of Britain through time". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[2] "Rutland Civil Parish Populations" (PDF). Rutland County Council. 2001. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[3] Poulton-Smith, Anthony (2008). Leicestershire and Rutland Place-names. History Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7509-5045-9.

[4] ttp://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Rutland/Whitwell%

[5] Story of how Whitwell came to be twinned with Paris, as told to Parliament by local MP Alan Duncan in 1992. (Scroll down to bottom of "Column 1137")

[6] A column from the Guardian, 19 April 2003, mentioning how Whitwell became twinned with Paris. (about 2/3 of the way down)

[7] "European elections 2019: The village (Sort of) twinned with Paris". BBC News. 21 May 2019.