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Rutland is traditionally England 's smallest County and is bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire , northeast by Lincolnshire , and southeast by Northamptonshire . Its greatest length north to south is only 18 miles; greatest breadth east to west, 17 miles. It is the smallest (in terms of population) normal unitary authority in mainland England (only the City Of London is smaller), and is 348th of the 354 districts in terms of population. The two principal towns are Oakham , the county town, and Uppingham . At the centre of the county is a large reservoir, Rutland Water , which is an important nature reserve, serving as an overwintering site for Wildfowl and a breeding site for Osprey s. The town of Stamford is just over the border in a protruding part of Lincolnshire . The highest point of the county is Cold Overton Park at 646 ft. (197 m). The county's small size led ex- Monty Python man, Eric Idle to name his "solo" series '' Rutland Weekend Television ''. The most successful spinoff of this is '' The Rutles '' which mentions Rutland frequently as an injoke. History ''Main article: History Of Rutland .'' The north-western part of the county was recorded as Rutland, a detached part of Nottinghamshire , in the Domesday Book ; the south-eastern part as the Wapentake of ''Wicelsea'' in Northamptonshire . It was first mentioned as a separate county in 1159 , but as late as the 14th Century it was referred to as the ' Soke of Rutland'. Historically it was also known as Rutlandshire, but in recent times only the shorter name is common. By the 19th century it was divided into the Hundred s of Alstoe , East , Martinsley , Oakham and Wrandike . In 1894 it was divided into three Rural District s, Oakham Rural District , Uppingham Rural District and Ketton Rural District . Oakham was split out from Oakham Rural District in 1911 as an Urban District . {Link without Title} The four district councils were abolished, and the Administrative County was made a Non-metropolitan District of Leicestershire in the Local Government Reorganisation of 1974 . It was restored to top-level authority status by popular demand on 1 April , 1997 , as part of the Local Government Reform . There are 26 county councillors representing 16 wards. Towns and villages ''See the List Of Places In Rutland . and List Of Civil Parishes In Rutland Places of interest Rivers Trivia Following Iraq 's invasion and annexation of Kuwait in August 1990 , '' The Independent '' featured a cartoon with the sign 'Rutland: Twinned with Kuwait'. External links See also |