Review - The Act Book of St Katherine’s Gild, Stamford, 1480-1534

A History of Wing Village and its Setting 1066-2018 By David Seviour. Published by the author. 2019. Price £15. Available from Walker's Bookshop, Oakham, or from the author davidseviour33@gmail.com This publication is the end-product of the work which went into the production of Wing's Neighbourhood Plan. The associated recording of the built environment of Wing on the Wing village website, including both listed and unlisted buildings, is to be commended as an example for every Rutland village. The published book is part of a wider process in which the author and the Neighbourhood Plan Group sought to engage with the heritage of the village in order to protect the past and enhance the future of where they live. The first part of the book relates the early history of the village derived from published sources as well as other material open to public scrutiny, and the author makes some interesting observations on the nature of the maze, long distance routes and the windmill. Although much of the commentary is general in nature, he does intercede with connections to Wing people and buildings. It would have been better to have more self-contained elements concerning Wing property-owning families in discreet sections, rather than scattered through the text which unfortunately lacks an index. The section on the seventeenth century includes occasional mentions of ‘newcomers’ and notable families across the centuries. The latter part of the book continues its chronological progression through the ages. But again, the information is muddled. For example, the section on World War Two appears before that of the twentieth century. The book concludes with interesting analysis on housing, planning and Wing’s ‘special environment’. Some of the illustrations are a little too small, some are mis-captioned and some, which appear to be straight off the camera, would have benefited from enhancement in Photoshop. In conclusion, there is much useful and interesting information here, but it should have been organised into more coherent sections and indexed. RT

The Complete Guide to the Parish Churches of Rutland By Andrew Swift Published in 2014 by Velox Books, Leicester - Softbound - 114 pages – A4 ISBN: 978-0-9575701-2-2 - Price £15 plus £3 for courier delivery The Parish Churches of Leicestershire By Andrew Swift Published in 2013 by Velox Books, Leicester - Volume 1: Ab Kettleby to Launde Abbey Chapel Softbound - 286 pages – A4 - ISBN: 978-0-9575701-0-8 Price £20 plus £3 for courier delivery Volume 2: Leicester’s Medieval Churches to Wymondham Softbound - 311 pages – A4 ISBN: 978-0-9575701-1-5 - Price £20 plus £3 for courier delivery All three books available from local bookshops, Rutland County Museum or via andrewswift.co.uk Andrew Swift, a geologist with a passion for historic buildings, has published three books about the Anglican churches of Leicestershire and Rutland. Volume 1 of The Parish Churches of Leicestershire covers Ab Kettleby to Launde Abbey Chapel, and Volume 2 covers Leicester’s Medieval Churches to Wymondham, a total of 316 churches in the two volumes. The Complete Guide to the Parish Churches of Rutland covers all 50 churches in the county, including Normanton. The author, an honorary visiting fellow at the University of Leicester, is quoted as saying ‘I’m interested in history and became fascinated with churches and their place in social evolution over time’. All three books follow the same format – a main photograph of the outside of the church, around 400 non-technical words on the history, features and general design of each building as well as anything else of interest, and a full page of up to 15 colour photographs to illustrate the text. Volume 1 of the Leicestershire books has a foreword by the Bishop of Leicester and volume 2 has a good bibliography. Likewise, the Rutland book has a foreword by the Bishop of Peterborough and a bibliography. There are of course other books on the churches of Rutland – including the Victoria County History for Rutland, volume II, Canon John Prophet and Tony Traylen’s Churches of Rutland, Gillian Dickenson’s Rutland Parish Churches Before Restoration, Leonard Cantor’s The Parish Churches of Leicestershire and Rutland and Pauline Collett’s The Parish Churches of Rutland (reviewed in the April 2013 issue of this Newsletter). All bring something different to the reader and the new volume on Rutland churches is no different. If, like me, you enjoy exploring the parish churches of Leicestershire and Rutland, you may want to buy all three of these excellent new publications. Robert Ovens