Stamford (England)

Stamford is a market town at the south-west corner of Lincolnshire, with a population of about 21,000. It's a charming place with a well-preserved Georgian centre, and with opulent Burghley House just south.

Understand
This was the lowest point that you could easily cross the River Welland in ancient times, by the stan ford, the stony ford. The river is of no great size but to the east were marshes until the Lincolnshire Fens were drained. It was easily bridged and so a Roman road came this way, and later the Great North Road, now the A1. Medieval Stamford made its living from pottery and agriculture, and the river formed the southern boundary of Lincolnshire. Across the bridge was the separate village of St Martin's, and from Tudor times the domain of the Cecil magnates, who built and embellished Burghley House.

Stamford is halfway between London and York, and was an overnight stagecoach stop on the Great North Road. Some forty coaching inns sprang up to cater to this trade. Several remain that you can stay in, while others have become restaurants or private dwellings. The town retains its medieval street pattern but its heyday was Georgian. Buildings of that era are well-preserved as Victorian industry and construction passed Stamford by. However it was shaken by traffic until the A1 was diverted west of town in 1960.

The Tourist Information Centre is part of the Arts Centre on St Mary's Street, see below. They can book accommodation for you.

By plane
Stansted Airport has budget flights and an hourly direct train taking 80 min to Stamford.

Other airports generally involve travelling into central London for the northbound train.

By train
Trains run hourly from Peterborough, taking 12 min. These start from Stansted Airport and run via Cambridge, Ely, Peterborough, Stamford and Leicester to  Birmingham New Street.

Peterborough is on the northeast mainline, with frequent trains taking just under an hour from London King's Cross. These continue north to Leeds or to York, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh. Peterborough also has trains to other towns in East Anglia, the Midlands and the northwest.

By bus
Delaine Bus 201 / 202 runs hourly M-Sa from Peterborough, taking 45 min via Barnack (for Hills and Holes NNR) and Pilsgate (for Burghley House), and continuing north to Bourne.

Bus 301 runs hourly M-F from Spalding, taking an hour via Market Deeping.

LincsBus 4 runs three times M-Sa from Grantham, taking an hour via Boothby Pagnell, Castle Bytham and Carlby.

TransportConnect Bus 9 runs once M-Sa from Oakham, taking 30 min.

is the agricultural name for the bus station, which is just an open square with Perspex bus shelters. The buses make multiple stops through town.

By road
From south or north follow A1. This is not motorway hereabouts so cyclists are permitted, but there's no cycle lane so it's misery in good conditions and dangerous in poor visibility - use the back lanes.

The long stay car parks are Cattlemarket 100 yards north of the railway station and Wharf Road (A1175) a quarter mile east of town centre. They're clearly signposted, accessible 24 hours, have 6 ft 6 height restriction barriers and accept contactless payment.

Get around
Walk: town centre is compact, and the shopping area is pedestrianised. Burghley House is just over a mile on foot: go south on B1081 to the gateway into the park, ignoring the "visitor entrance" signpost directing cars around via B1443.

Cycling is a good way to explore beyond town, especially once you get off the ratty main roads onto the zig-zagging lanes.

Taxis wait along Broad Street.

See

 * Town centre is the main attraction, a well-preserved Georgian market town with some 600 "listed" (protected historic) buildings. It's relatively untouched by Victorian or later development, so there's a pleasing unity of style, along gently curving cobbled streets and hidden alleyways.
 * is the focus of town. It's a busy traffic thoroughfare but pedestrianised streets lead off it, such as High Street. This has many fine buildings, but ground-level is cluttered by modern shop fronts.
 * Barn Hill is the charming Georgian lane leading west from behind All Saints. It's often used as a period film location, as there are so few modern items that need editing out.
 * on Sheepmarket by the bus station is modern. Queen Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290) was the first wife of Edward I. She died at Harby near Lincoln, and the king arranged a funeral procession to bring her to Westminster Abbey for burial. They travelled 20 miles a day, and at each of the 11 overnight resting places, memorial crosses were erected. Most have been lost including Stamford's, and even its site is uncertain - probably further west beneath the modern A1. This monument was put up in 2009 and doesn't resemble the original.
 * Stamford Castle survives only as a brief section of wall on the south side of the bus station. The Normans built a motte-and-bailey here, converted to stone maybe mid 12th century and tumbledown by the 14th. The three blind arches in the wall suggests it was part of the castle Great Hall.
 * on Sheepmarket by the bus station is modern. Queen Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290) was the first wife of Edward I. She died at Harby near Lincoln, and the king arranged a funeral procession to bring her to Westminster Abbey for burial. They travelled 20 miles a day, and at each of the 11 overnight resting places, memorial crosses were erected. Most have been lost including Stamford's, and even its site is uncertain - probably further west beneath the modern A1. This monument was put up in 2009 and doesn't resemble the original.
 * Stamford Castle survives only as a brief section of wall on the south side of the bus station. The Normans built a motte-and-bailey here, converted to stone maybe mid 12th century and tumbledown by the 14th. The three blind arches in the wall suggests it was part of the castle Great Hall.
 * Mallory Lane is an alley leading north from Sheep Market to All Saint's Street - it may lie upon the route of the Roman road. Since 2018 it's been adorned by a gallery of photographs.
 * west of Town Bridge are the floodplain of the River Welland. They're the tip of a river island, and popular for picnics. A walk upriver leads to Tinwell village: the "Melancholy Walk" may be named for the gallows that once stood here, but the monks could be lugubrious on any occasion. The south fork of the river became a millstream, and the area has for centuries been used as part of flood defences - Stamford is only a few feet above sea level. Downstream is canalised but not navigable since 1863.
 * on West Street is one of the last scraps of the town walls. There was probably an earthwork and wooden palisade from the 9th century during the "Danelaw", the Viking realm in eastern England, which was reinforced under William the Conqueror. A stone defensive wall was erected between 1135 and 1154, but like the castle it fell derelict by the 14th century. This turret and stretch of wall is near the site of St Peter's Gate so perhaps it was part of the gateway into town.
 * St Martin High Street south across the bridge is the old London road, busy with traffic yet well-preserved. The defining image of Stamford is the "gallows" sign for the George Hotel spanning the road. It's just decorative and attention-grabbing, but made out to be a warning to highwaymen of the Dick Turpin era. If so, it simply warned them to rob a rich stagecoach, to have ready money to afford a stay at the George.

Further out
"To extract from the Villien saccage and soccage, tollage and tallage, pillage and ullage…"

- Rights of the medieval Barons, according to 1066 and all that, Sellar and Yeaman 1930


 * The Soke of Peterborough was the territory south of the river, independent of the county structure. It levied "socage", a land tax that was the forerunner to modern freehold, with feudal duties of service replaced by cash payments.


 * is nowadays a private residence, well-screened by trees from the road but visible from the public bridleway just south. This was the site of a Benedictine nunnery, dissolved by Henry VIII and scooped up by Richard Cecil. It was replaced in the 17th century by a lodge, which was part-demolished to create a picturesque ruin to adorn the Burghley estate. The Griffin family bought the site in 2004, and stabilised the crumbling structure next to their modern home.
 * is nowadays a private residence, well-screened by trees from the road but visible from the public bridleway just south. This was the site of a Benedictine nunnery, dissolved by Henry VIII and scooped up by Richard Cecil. It was replaced in the 17th century by a lodge, which was part-demolished to create a picturesque ruin to adorn the Burghley estate. The Griffin family bought the site in 2004, and stabilised the crumbling structure next to their modern home.
 * is nowadays a private residence, well-screened by trees from the road but visible from the public bridleway just south. This was the site of a Benedictine nunnery, dissolved by Henry VIII and scooped up by Richard Cecil. It was replaced in the 17th century by a lodge, which was part-demolished to create a picturesque ruin to adorn the Burghley estate. The Griffin family bought the site in 2004, and stabilised the crumbling structure next to their modern home.

Do
"This year, betwixt gang-days and midsummer, went King Edward with his army to Stamford, and ordered the town to be fortified on the south side of the river."

- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 922 AD



Hike
Use OS Landranger Map 141 (Corby) for walking routes near town.
 * Macmillan Way is a 290-mile trail from Boston on the east coast to Abbotsbury on the Dorset coast.
 * Hereward Way is a branch of the Viking Way, which tracks the Great North Road and then doglegs east to follow Roman Ermine Street.

Rutland Water

 * Rutland Water: see that page for wildlife reserves and water sports on the artificial lake 5-10 miles west.

Heritage railway

 * Nene Valley Railway: see Peterborough for this standard gauge heritage railway, which runs for seven miles between Peterborough, Orton Mere, Overton, Yarwell and Wansford.

Events

 * Mid-Lent Fair is a street fair and travelling funfair. It runs for a week from Mothering Sunday, which is three weeks before Easter Sunday and therefore varies by year.
 * Burghley Game & Country Fair is on Spring Bank Holiday weekend in late May, with countryside activities and entertainment in the grounds of Burghley House.
 * Stamford Festival is in June, with street parades.
 * Burghley Horse Trials are in early September. They draw an international audience and accommodation gets booked out for this weekend.
 * Stamford Georgian Festival is intended to be in September of odd years, but funding has been axed and it's unlikely to happen in 2023.

Buy

 * "What price are people charging for a good set of young bulls at Stamford Fair?"
 * - in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part II Act 3 Scene 2, Justice Shallow maunders on about bygone times. His colleague barely listens.


 * Supermarkets: Morrisons is east edge of town on Uffingham Road A1175, open M-Sa 6AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM. It has fuel. Aldi is 200 yards further east. M&S Foodhall and Tesco Express are in the town centre on High Street, near St George's Steet.

Eat

 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.
 * Orbis, opened in 2021, specialises in gluten-free food. They're on the main strip at 11 All Saints Place and open W-Sa noon-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. They have another branch in Oakham.

Budget

 * Travelodge have three sites within 10 miles along A1: one south near Peterborough, and two north towards Grantham.

Connect
As of Feb 2023, Stamford has 4G from all UK carriers, though with patchy coverage of its approach roads. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

 * North to Grantham, birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton.
 * West is Rutland Water, with water activities based around its shores. Just beyond is the pleasant market town of Oakham.
 * East to Bourne, Market Deeping, Deeping St James, and Crowland with its semi-ruined abbey.
 * South to Peterborough with its medieval cathedral
 * Further south to Cambridge, a wonderful old university city.