Route Details
- From - to: Circular ride from Oakham
- Distance: 17 miles around the lake / 23 miles including the peninsula
- Terrain: Mostly traffic-free on stone-surfaced paths with some sections on quiet tarmacked roads.
- Access: Oakham Rail Station
- National Cycle Network: National Route 63 and local routes
Route Description
Rutland, famously England's smallest county, has at its heart one of England's largest man-made lakes, created as a reservoir in the 1970s.
The route begins in historic Oakham that houses a market every Wednesday and Saturday and contains a fine Norman castle site and the Rutland Museum celebrating the county's heritage.
A short detour at Barnsdale Country Club takes you to Barnsdale Gardens, a series of individual gardens created by ecologically-minded gardener, the late Geoff Hamilton.
You will also pass Normanton church, the last remnant of a village depopulated in the 18th century to make way for a park. The foundations of the village are now drowned but the upper parts of the church remain above water and house an exhibition on the making of the lake.
Download a ride description sheet.
Things to see and do
- Oakham Castle
- Barnsdale Gardens, Oakham
- Rutland Water
- Normanton Church, Rutland Water
- Egleton Nature Reserve
Related maps
Map shows the National Cycle Network and local routes in this area.
Region:
Rutland Water was completed in 1978 by flooding the River Gwash valley and is western Europe's largest man-made lake.