Clipsham

Village in Rutland, England

Human settlement in England

Clipsham

St Mary's Church, Clipsham

Clipsham

Location within Rutland

Area| 2.61 sq mi (6.8 km2) [1]
Population| 120 (2001 Census)[2]
• Density| 46/sq mi (18/km2)
OS grid reference| SK969163
• London| 88 miles (142 km) SSE
Unitary authority|

* 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

List of places

England
Rutland

52°44′10″N 0°33′58″W﻿ / ﻿52.736°N 0.566°W﻿ / 52.736; -0.566

Clipsham is a small village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is in the northeast of Rutland, close to the county boundary with Lincolnshire. The population of the civil parish was 120 at the 2001 census increasing to 166 at the 2011 census.[3]

Topiary at Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue

The village's name possibly means 'homestead/village of Cylp' or 'hemmed-in land of Cylp'.[4]

St Mary's Church is a Grade II* listed building.[5] Clipsham Hall of c. 1700 is a Grade II* listed mansion,[6] set in a landscaped park.

The Olive Branch[7] is one of the very few pubs to hold a Michelin star and in 2008 was chosen as winner of the Michelin Pub of the Year.

The village is well known for its limestone quarries. Clipsham stone,[8][9] part of the Upper Lincolnshire Limestone Formation, can be found in many of Britain's most famous buildings including King's College Chapel (Cambridge), the Examination Schools in Oxford, York Minster, and in repairs to the Houses of Parliament. The earliest recorded use of Clipsham stone was for Windsor Castle between 1363 and 1368. The London Stone is made of it, however, and dates back at least to about 1100.

## Yew Tree Avenue

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The topiary Yew Tree Avenue, once the carriage drive to Clipsham Hall, has been maintained by the Forestry Commission.[10] The avenue stretches for 500 metres (1,600 ft), with some 150 shaped yew trees leading towards the Hall. Many of the trees are over 200 years old and have been trimmed since the late 19th-century into various shapes depicting birds and animals on the tops and designs in relief on the sides.

After 2010, Forest Enterprise could not fund the annual trimming and the trees became overgrown and diseased. The Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust, a registered charity set up in 2018,[11] has signed a 20-year agreement with the Forestry Commission to take over the management of the avenue.[12] In 2024 the trust was awarded a grant of £114,650 in 2024 to preserve the trees and restore lost topiary designs.[13]

A topiary windmill

## See also

[edit]

* Clipsham Old Quarry and Pickworth Great Wood
* List of types of limestone

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "A vision of Britain through time". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
2. ^ "Rutland Civil Parish Populations" (PDF). Rutland County Council. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
3. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
4. ^ "Key to English Place-names".
5. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade II*) (1361803)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
6. ^ Historic England, "Clipsham Hall (1073244)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 11 October 2015
7. ^ The Olive Branch, Clipsham, UK.
8. ^ Clipsham Quarry Company website
9. ^ The Stamford Stone Company Archived 2007-06-21 at the Wayback Machine operates Clipsham Medwells Quarry
10. ^ "Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue (England)". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
11. ^ "Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust, registered charity no. 1178614". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
12. ^ "Yew Tree Avenue in Clipsham to be restored to former glory". yewtreeavenue.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
13. ^ Ashe, Isaac (15 December 2024). "Future of free topiary attraction safeguarded". BBC News. Retrieved 26 December 2024.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clipsham.

* Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust
* Film of Clipsham Quarry in 1927