Stamford

Barnack

is a small village 3½ miles southeast of Stamford. The parish church is Anglo-Saxon. Findings from a Bronze Age burial chamber are in the British Museum in London. The "Hills and Holes" are ancient limestone quarries, abandoned and overgrown from 1500 AD, and now a National Nature Reserve.

Browne's Hospital

This almshouse was built in 1475 and still has 12 residents, though they're no longer required to attend chapel twice a day to pray for the founder. (They were called "bedesmen" as they counted off their devotions on their rosary beads.) Vacancies occur through natural causes, so you can apply if you're indigent and genteel enough. As it's a residence not a zoo there is seldom public access, but see the website for an online tour and occasional guided tour.

Burghley House

Grand 16th-century "prodigy house": Queen Elizabeth I and her courtiers toured the country, and her nobles vied to construct bling palaces suitable for receiving them all. This example was built 1558-1587 by Sir William Cecil her Lord High Treasurer, and the Cecil family still live here. The Elizabethan exterior is little altered, but the interior was re-modelled in the 18th century and stocked with industrial quantities of Italian artwork. There are also fine collections of furniture and porcelain. The parkland (open all year) was laid out by Capability Brown and nowadays includes a modern sculpture garden and "Garden of Surprises", which proved too surprising for some visitors so they've turned off the water features. The house and gardens are often used as film and TV locations so check ahead for closures around this.

Mid-Mar-Oct Sat-Thu 11AM-5PM·Adult £17, child £9

Greyfriars Gatehouse

at the junction of A6121 and A1175 is the only surviving part of Greyfriars Franciscan friary, established in 1230 and suppressed in 1534. Richard Duke of York spent two nights here in 1476 but little cared, as he'd died 12 years earlier at the Battle of Wakefield and was being conveyed for re-burial at Fotheringhay. The land is now part of Stamford & Rutland Hospital.

Priest's House

This small 15th-century rectory contains a history exhibition, especially on the local slate industry. It was built for John Stokes - he was brother-in-law to William Browne, and oversaw the completion of the Hospital when Browne died. It's managed by the National Trust but usually unstaffed - a sign on the door lists nearby key-holders. The rectory later moved to the much grander Glebe House (now a private residence), birthplace of Captain Lancelot Skynner (1766–1799). His ship HMS Lutine was lost with all aboard off the Friesian Islands, with a fabulous cargo of gold that has never been found. Salvage attempts recovered the ship's bell, and this "Lutine Bell" is rung at Lloyd's of London to mark major events.

Daily 10AM-5PM·Free

St George's Church

Anglican church dating from 1225; the tower is 13th-century, the exterior 15th, and the interior was re-worked by the Victorians. William Bruges (1375–1450), first Garter King of Arms is buried in the church.

Mon-Fri 10AM-2PM, Sun 9AM-8PM

St John the Baptist's Church

A redundant Anglican church, its congregation joined All Saints in 2003, but the building remains accessible. The Tower is maybe 14th century, most of the rest is 15th. It has a finely-carved internal roof with angel bosses.

open daily

St Leonard's Priory

The Priory was re-established around 1082 under William the Conqueror, on the site of a 7th century monastery destroyed in the 11th. It was a "cell" - an outpost - of Durham cathedral monastery until both were dissolved in 1538. What you see now is the exterior of the bricked-up nave, rebuilt in the 19th century, with a fine west front. Other remnants are buried below the present ground level.

St Martin's Church

This was built in the 12th century and known as "St Martin's Without" as it was beyond the town wall. It was rebuilt in Perpendicular style in the 15th century and re-modelled in the 19th, so at first glance it looks Victorian. It contains tombs of the Cecil family, including Sir William who built Burghley House, and of the enormous Daniel Lambert. It's Anglican, with services on Sunday at 9:30AM, and sometimes used as a concert venue.

Daily 8AM-5PM

St Mary's Church

This was built in the 12th century, with the tower added in the 13th and spire in the 14th. It doesn't lean, but the spire has creaked and tottered and been reinforced for six centuries. The fine Corpus Christi or North Chapel has a decorated medieval wagon vault. The church was refurbished in the late 19th century under Arts & Crafts influence, especially seen in the stained glass window of the Lady Chapel. An ornate tomb holds Sir David Philips (d 1506), ally of Henry VII. The church follows the "High Anglican" tradition of the Victorian Oxford Movement, when English Protestants re-discovered the attractions of Catholic smells and bells.

Daily 9AM-5PM

St Michael the Greater Church

This is what you get when hubris and property development outweigh piety. It dates at least back to Norman times, though much altered in later centuries, especially in 1832 when a reformist vicar had the internal pillars removed. But these were supporting the tower, and down the whole thing came. The church was rebuilt within four years in neo-Gothic style, and served until 1974 when it became redundant. Developers ripped into the structure and turned it into a parade of shops, while most of the graveyard became a car park.

Stamford School

began in the 12th century in St Mary's Church, moving east onto St Paul's Rd in the 16th. It's near Greyfriars Gatehouse and you can peek through the entrance at the oldest part, the former St Paul's Church.

All Saints Church

This Anglican church is mainly 13th century, renovated in the 15th.

Mon-Sat 9AM-5PM, Sun 8:30AM-6:30PM

Stamford Library

A curious squat cod-classical building, as if the Natwest had calved. It was opened in 1808 as a meat market: in 1903 Carnegie endowed public libraries all over Britain, and most towns erected new buildings, but Stamford just cleared out the sheep shanks and pigs' trotters and converted this place. It has a small display of local history.

Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM, Sat 9AM-4PM

Stamford Town Hall

Neoclassical building completed in 1779. Most local government roles now lie with Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven Council; the town councillors only get to govern bin collections, parking enforcement, cemeteries and allotments. Free guided tours are available on Fridays.