The UK’s smallest county is Rutland, covering just 147 square miles and tucked away in the East Midlands, bordering Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.
Despite its modest size, it more than lives up to its motto Multum in Parvo, meaning 'Much in Little', with rolling countryside, pretty villages, and the vast Rutland Water reservoir, which is home to the largest man-made lake in the UK. Once absorbed into Leicestershire, Rutland regained its county status in 1997 and has remained independent ever since.
Is Rutland really the smallest county in the UK?
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the historic counties list, Rutland is the UK’s smallest county, covering 382 sq km (147.4 sq miles).
Entirely landlocked, this historic county is home to around 41,000 people, making it one of the least populated ceremonial counties after the City of London. The county is largely rural, with its population centred in the small towns of Oakham and Uppingham, surrounded by Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire.
Measuring just 16.5 miles from north to south and east to west, Rutland is remarkably compact compared with other counties in Britain. It is also home to Rutland Water, the UK’s largest man-made reservoir by surface area, roughly the size of Lake Windermere.
What is the biggest county in England?
North Yorkshire is England’s largest county, covering an impressive 3,341 square miles (8,654 square kilometres) of diverse countryside. To give a sense of scale, it is more than three times the size of Luxembourg (998 square miles) and just slightly smaller than the Mediterranean island of Cyprus (3,572 square miles).
Wildlife at Rutland Water
Rutland Water is an important habitat for wildlife and one of the UK’s most important nature reserves. Managed in part by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, it attracts thousands of overwintering waterfowl and greylag geese.
Most famously, it is home to the Rutland Osprey Project – the first successful reintroduction of ospreys in England, with birds now breeding at the site each year.
