Welcome to the Kimble One-Place Study.

What is a One-Place Study?

A One-Place Study researches the history of a place and its residents.  In many ways it is similar to a more traditional local history but with the emphasis on the people and their occupatuons, life expectancy, migration in and out of the place, and so on.

The Kimble One-Place Study covers the modern combined Parish of Great and Little Kimble cum Marsh, which includes the settlements of Smoky Row, Clanking, Marsh and Kimblewick as well as Little Kimble and Great Kimble.

 Kimble War Memorial

It is hoped that this site will be of some interest to those with connections to Kimble – including those who, like myself, have ancestors who lived or worked in the area, and those who now live there.

It is also hoped that visitors will fee able to share their knowledge, stories and photos, or offer additional information or corrections to anything that they see here.

My connection with Kimble

My grandparents, Ernest Thomas Rutland and Emma Cummings, were married in the parish church of St. Nicolas, Great Kimble, in 1906. The postcard below shows a view of the church from around this time.

My grandfather was born in Marsh, and several generations of the Rutlands lived in the Kimbles going back to the late 18th century.

Before this there had been Rutlands in Kimble between 1620 and 1645. This includes Thomas Rutland, whose name appears along with John Hampden on the list of defaulters who refused to pay the “Ship Money” in 1635/6. As far as I know there is no connection between these earlier Rutlands of Kimble and my line – but more research is needed.

Postcard St. Nicholas Church, Great Kimble 1905

I recently had the opportunity to meet Roger Howgate, a resident of Kimble and who has been studying local history for many years. Roger has just completed the text of a new book on the history of Kimble, to be published soon. I understand the book will look at Kimble in the wider context of British history.

Roger was also a co-author of “Kimble Faces & Places”, a book published in 2000.

The study is registered with the Society for One-Place Studies. Read more at here.