Stamford

Stamford sits on the River Welland, straddling the old border between Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and grew up around a Roman crossing of Ermine Street. What makes the town remarkable today is how much of its historic fabric survives: more than 600 buildings are listed, the vast majority built from mellow Lincolnshire limestone during a Georgian building boom that gave the town its wool-and-stone-trade wealth. Wander the narrow streets and passageways around All Saints' Place or St Mary's Street and there is barely a jarring modern frontage in sight.

That completeness is exactly why film and television crews keep coming back. Because the Industrial Revolution largely passed Stamford by, its skyline of honey-coloured stone and five medieval church spires has stood in for other eras on screen, most famously as the fictional town of Meryton in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and as the setting for the BBC's Middlemarch. Just outside town, the vast Elizabethan pile of Burghley House, built for William Cecil in the 1560s, adds its own grandeur to the wider area and gives Stamford a genuinely stately neighbour on its doorstep.

Top things to do in Stamford

Stamford rewards slow exploration on foot, with plenty to see within a short walk of the town centre and a handful of bigger draws just beyond it.

• Burghley House — a magnificent 16th-century house built for Elizabeth I's chief advisor William Cecil, with more than 100 rooms, 18 State Rooms, an important art collection, and parkland landscaped by Capability Brown.
• The Georgian town centre — a self-guided town trail winds through streets such as Barn Hill, St Paul's Street and All Saints' Place, taking in the finest concentration of Georgian townhouses outside Bath.
• Five medieval churches — Stamford has the best surviving group of medieval parish churches of any small English town, including St Mary's with its striking spire and St Martin's, burial place of Burghley House's builder.
• Stamford Museum and town heritage sites — small local collections and blue-plaque buildings trace the town's wool-trade wealth and its long history as a coaching stop on the Great North Road.
• The Meadows and River Welland — riverside parkland right by the town centre, good for a walk or a picnic, with views back over the rooftops and spires.
• Stamford Friday Market — a long-standing weekly market in the town centre selling local produce, crafts and general goods.
• Film and TV location walks — guided tours point out the exact corners used for Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch and other productions, including St George's Square.
• Rutland Water — England's largest reservoir by surface area lies a short drive south, with cycling, sailing and an osprey project.

Getting to Stamford

Stamford has its own railway station on the Birmingham to Peterborough line via Leicester, with regular services connecting to Peterborough in around 15 minutes for onward East Coast Main Line trains to London King's Cross. By road, the town sits just off the A1, roughly midway between Peterborough and Grantham, making it an easy stop for anyone travelling the Great North Road route. Peterborough is around 25 minutes away by car, and the East Midlands and Stansted airports are both within reasonable driving distance for visitors arriving by air.

Best time to visit Stamford

Stamford is an all-year destination thanks to its indoor attractions and compact, walkable centre, but late spring through early autumn suits it best, when the gardens at Burghley House are in full bloom and the Meadows along the Welland are at their greenest. The Stamford Georgian Festival, held in June, brings the town's 18th-century character to life with costumed events and living history. Burghley House also hosts the Burghley Horse Trials each September, one of the world's leading three-day eventing competitions, which draws large crowds to the estate. For a quieter visit with the streets to yourself, a crisp winter weekday lets the golden stone and church spires do the talking without the crowds.

Where to stay in Stamford

The George Hotel of Stamford is the town's best-known address, a coaching inn dating from 1597 with a distinctive gallows sign spanning the road outside and a history of hosting travellers on the old Great North Road. Beyond it, Stamford has a good spread of independent bed and breakfasts and small hotels housed in the same Georgian townhouses that make the streets so photogenic, along with country house and farm-stay options in the surrounding villages towards Rutland Water and the Welland Valley. Self-catering cottages in the market town and nearby villages suit longer stays, particularly for visitors combining Stamford with days out at Burghley House or Rutland Water.

Food and drink in Stamford

Stamford's dining scene matches its architecture for character. The George Hotel's restaurant and its walled garden are a long-standing favourite for a special meal, while The Bull and Swan on St Martin's, a restored 17th-century coaching inn under the same ownership as Burghley House, pairs historic surroundings with a modern pub-restaurant menu. St Mary's Street and the surrounding lanes hold a good mix of independent cafes, tea rooms and traditional pubs, many occupying the same stone buildings that have stood since the Georgian era, making a coffee stop or a pint in Stamford as much a part of the visit as the sightseeing itself.