Rhoodmen of Rutland

A Rutland Rhoodman

This little pottery figure is a Rhoodman. The Rhoodmen of Rutland was the title of a book published in 1982 by Patrick Beese.

The book was an account with humorous illustrations of the history and customs of a mythical race of small people who live on, and around Rutland Water.

Rhoodmen were "the original inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of what we now call Middle England. The small remaining part is now known as Rutland, though the original territory, known as Rhutland, spanned from Wales to the Wash."

I can remember these pottery figures being on sale in a gift shop in Ketton in the mid 1980s but this one I bought in a car boot. It has no maker’s mark.

From Pat’s website, www.rhoodbooks.co.uk …
“Pat emigrated to Rutland in 1977, just after the Last Ice Age created the Great Inland Sea known as Rutland Water. He taught Art & Design at Secondary level for ten demoralising years before taking up computer aided design. Computers don’t argue back!"

The "Rhoodmen of Rutland" was later the name of a local scooter club.

Cover of
The Rhoodmen of Rutland (1982)