The hamlet of Nether Hambleton was a small community of houses and farms at the western end of the south arm of the proposed reservoir. It came as a severe blow to the inhabitants on realizing that they were to lose their homes, and some their livelihoods.









One of the most interesting properties to go was Beehive Cottage, thought to be one of the earliest dwellings in Rutland.





Our research has unearthed some interesting stories about the people who once lived in the valley, going as far back as the 1300s. A good example is the Weldon family of Nether Hambleton. An estate notebook of 1797 lists the houses and their occupants who were tenants of the Finch family of Burley on the Hill. One house was occupied by Mrs Weldon. A cross was placed by her name with the note ‘Where you never go’. Further research revealed that her sons, Richard and William, murdered a baker from Edith Weston. They received the death penalty for their crime and their bodies were hung on a gibbet within sight of the family home.