Wing
Wing's turf maze
Wing Location within Rutland
Area	1.74 sq mi (4.5 km2) [1]
Population	315 2001 Census[2]
• Density	181/sq mi (70/km2)
OS grid reference	SK893033
• London	80 mi (130 km) SSE
Unitary authority	Rutland
Shire county	Rutland
Ceremonial county	Rutland
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	OAKHAM
Postcode district	LE15
Dialling code	01572
Police	Leicestershire
Fire	Leicestershire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Rutland and Melton
List of places UK England Rutland 52°37′12″N 0°40′55″W / 52.620°N 0.682°W / 52.620; -0.682

Wing is a village and civil parish in the East Midlands county of Rutland, England. The population was 315 at the 2001 census and 314 at that of 2011.^[3] It features a fine church and a labyrinth made of turf. Rutland Water reservoir is nearby.

Heritage

The village name, first found as Wenge in the 12th century, probably derives from the Old Norse vengi, meaning field.^[4]

Seventeenth-century houses in Wing were built of stone quarried at nearby Barnack and Clipsham. Many are roofed with Collyweston stone slate.^[5]

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Wing^[6] was much rebuilt in 1875, when the spire was removed. Some parts date from Norman times, including the south arcade of about 1150, the slightly later north arcade, and the north doorway.^[7]

Maze

Cut into the turf beside Glaston Road is a circular "turf maze" roughly 40 ft (12 m) in diameter (actually a unicursal labyrinth) It is thought to date back to medieval times, based on the fact that its design is similar to the pavement maze in Chartres cathedral and those at other medieval sites.^[8]

Amenities

The remaining public house is the King's Arms. The name of the Cuckoo Inn, closed in 2004, alluded to a legend that the people of Wing once tried to keep spring in the village forever by erecting a fence around a cuckoo to stop it from leaving. Naturally, it flew over the fence and away. As a result, people from the village were known as "Wing Fools".^[5] This is actually a widespread story, the best-known version probably appearing among the adventures the Wise Men of Gotham. There is a village hall.^[9]

Wing Hall has a camping and caravan site with a shop and café.

A plant outside Wing treats water extracted from Rutland Water reservoir a few miles to the north. Proposals by Anglian Water to raise the volume of water extracted were opposed by the RSPB, fearing that water-level changes would damage adjacent wildfowl habitats.^[10]

Medical, legal and other services can be found in Oakham (6 miles, 10 km).

Transport

Wing has one or two daily weekday buses with Oakham. Hourly daytime buses six days a week between Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Corby pass through Manton 1.3 miles (2 km) away. The nearest railway station is at Oakham (6 miles, 10 km), but Corby (11.5 miles, 18.5 km) has hourly services seven days a week to London St Pancras, changing at Kettering (a little over an hour).

Also nearby (1.5 miles, 2.4 km) is the main A6003 road between Kettering and Oakham via Uppingham.

Notable people

In birth order:

• Thomas Smith (c. 1556–1609), English master of requests
• Francis Meres (1565–1647), churchman and author, became Rector of Wing in 1602.
• Sir Charles Vernon Boys, FRS (1855–1944), experimental physicist, was born in Wing.^[11]
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader (born 1953), Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, 2012–2016.^[12]