Rutland on the ridge
Uppingham
A compact hilltop market town of honey-coloured stone, long-established inns and independent shops.
- Best for
- Market-town food, history and independent shopping
- Give it
- A Friday morning
- Don't miss
- The market tradition dating from the 1281 charter
Photo: Bob Harvey · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
The Fox verdict
A compact Rutland town with a long market memory
Uppingham gathers honey-coloured buildings, landmark inns, independent retail and a medieval church around its historic centre.
Come for the Friday market tradition, the fourteenth-century church and a choice of distinctive inns and dining rooms. The town is small enough to shop on foot, while its high-ridge setting gives the centre a strong sense of place.
Where to go
Places in Uppingham
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesThe Vaults
A Grade II listed seventeenth-century pub overlooking Market Place, with real ales, outdoor seating and a downstairs bar where dogs are welcome.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Historic Market Place
The Crown Inn
A former coaching inn on High Street East serving food in its bar and restaurant, with real ales and live music at weekends and bank holidays.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- High Street
Don Paddy's
A family-run Market Place bar and kitchen serving brunch, lunch and dinner from changing menus that draw on local produce.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Uppingham
Food & drink
1 place
The Falcon Hotel
A sixteenth-century Market Place hotel with Fern restaurant, a Lounge and Tap Bar, and a garden terrace.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Historic Market Place
History & heritage
2 placesUppingham Friday Market
A Friday market continuing the town's charter tradition of 1281, alongside independent retail and annual market-town events.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Uppingham
Church of St Peter and St Paul
A Grade II* parish church with a fourteenth-century core, enlarged and heavily restored in 1861, with a tower and spire beside Market Place.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- South side of the historic Market Place
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Three ways to explore Uppingham
Signature outings
Friday Market Tradition
Browse stalls offering produce, fish, bread, flowers and handmade goods in Market Place.
Norman Figures in the Church
Look for four small Norman figures representing Christ, a saint and two angels, placed by the south door and the north chapel's east window.
The Falcon's Coaching-Inn Story
At Fern, the hotel's restaurant, menus change with the seasons and draw on produce from local growers.
The town story
Market Place, Inns and Ironstone in Uppingham
Around Market Place, a Friday market, historic inns and a medieval church sit within a short walk of independent shops.
Market Place Inns
The Vaults stands at 4 Market Place in a Grade II listed seventeenth-century building, enlarged westwards in the eighteenth century. It is a drinks-only pub serving real ales, with outdoor seating facing the square and a downstairs bar where dogs are welcome. The Vaults also has guest rooms for an overnight stay.
Market Place brings several places to eat and drink together. The Falcon Hotel occupies a sixteenth-century building on the square, with Fern restaurant and a garden terrace. Along High Street East, the Crown Inn is a former coaching house serving food in its bar and restaurant, with live music at weekends and bank holidays. Don Paddy's, back on Market Place, is a family-run bar and kitchen with changing menus built around local produce.
Independent Shops and Stone
Uppingham is compact enough to explore on foot. Nelsons sells meat and pies from the High Street, while Baines Bakery makes bread, cakes and sandwiches on the premises. The Rutland Bookshop at 13 High Street West has sold second-hand and antiquarian books since 1979, and Topset designs and makes jewellery in the town. The Friday market fills Market Place, carrying on a market tradition recorded in the 1281 charter. A November Fatstock Show and a June Feast Day add to the town's calendar.
Uppingham stands on a ridge, and its early name, Uppingas, refers to people of the hill. The Market Place anchors the compact centre, where local ironstone gives many buildings their colour. St Peter and St Paul stands beside the square: a fourteenth-century church enlarged and heavily restored in 1861 by Henry Parsons of London. Its tower and spire remain a landmark above the surrounding roofs.
The School's Long Shadow
Uppingham School began in 1584, founded by Archdeacon Robert Johnson. Its original schoolroom survives near the churchyard and is Grade I listed. Edward Thring, headmaster from 1853 to 1887, shaped much of the school's Victorian expansion. Fairfield, its first sixth-form girls' house, opened in 1975.
Routes Beyond the Ridge
Oakham station is about six miles north on the Birmingham–Peterborough line, and the A47's bypass runs along the town's northern edge, with buses to Oakham, Corby, Leicester and Stamford. Rutland Water lies six miles north for sailing, cycling and ospreys in season. To the south-west, Eyebrook Reservoir was where Guy Gibson's 617 Squadron made their final low-level practice runs before the May 1943 raid on the Ruhr dams.
Friday Morning Verdict
The Sunday Times chose Uppingham as its Midlands Best Places to Live winner in 2022. For a visitor, the Friday stalls and compact streets offer an introduction to the town.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Photography credits & licences
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- File:The Falcon Hotel (geograph 5940397).jpg — photograph by Bob Harvey; Bob Harvey. Source record on Wikimedia Commons. Declared source image. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. File changes: Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons, resized to a maximum 1920px edge and encoded as an optimised JPEG. Display changes: Displayed with responsive CSS cropping.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Uppingham Friday Market — uppinghamtowncouncil.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Church of St Peter and St Paul — uppinghamchurch.co.uk other published source
- The Vaults — thevaultsuppingham.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Falcon Hotel — falcon-hotel.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Crown Inn — uppinghamtowncouncil.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Don Paddy's — donpaddys.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation