The Road to Bedlam
Page 46
The high-tech, high-security facilities of Porton Down are in marked contrast to Oakham Castle, found just off the market square in Oakham, the county town of Rutland. Although hardly secure by modern standards, the castle does have one unique quality. Inside the main hall the walls are completely covered with horseshoes. It is not known how the practice started, but since the fifteenth century, any peer of the realm, no matter what their rank, has been obliged to present a horseshoe to Oakham Castle or to pay a forfeit in its place. The earliest record is from 1470, when Edward IV commanded that a horseshoe be put up in the hall and that shoe is still there.
Interestingly, the family to whom the castle belonged were called the Ferrers. These were descendents of Henry de Ferrers, Lord of Ferrieres in Normandy (an area known for its iron workings) who came to England with William I in 1066 or very soon after.
The Ferrers were a prestigious family and were granted land including Rutland, which itself is rich in iron deposits. Ferrer is also the Norman French word for a smith, from which we derive the word farrier, still in use today.
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