Stamford Townscape Lincolnshire

Summary

A Georgian market town in Lincolnshire often cited as the finest stone town in England — five medieval churches, Georgian terraces, and a complete high street that doubled as Middlemarch.

About this location

Stamford is a market town in Lincolnshire where virtually the entire town centre is built in the local oolitic limestone — a warm honey-coloured stone that gives the streets a visual consistency unusual even for the Cotswolds. Five medieval churches survive within the town, the most complete being St Mary’s and All Saints’ in the centre; the high street, St Mary’s Street, and Broad Street are fronted by Georgian and earlier buildings with minimal later insertions. The town’s conservation area covers the entire historic core.

Stamford was used as the principal exterior location for the 1994 BBC adaptation of Middlemarch — the whole of Middlemarch’s Lowick and Tipton were shot here — and the town has appeared in subsequent period drama productions including episodes of Longitude and various BBC classic drama adaptations. The combination of complete Georgian streetscape, multiple church exteriors of different medieval periods, and a working market town character makes it arguably the best-preserved period market town in the English East Midlands.

South Kesteven District Council handles filming permits. The town attracts some period drama tourism which the council manages carefully; productions should expect community relations to be a managed process. Stamford is on the A1 trunk road and has a railway station (East Midlands Railway from Peterborough). The George Hotel — a 17th-century coaching inn on the high street — is available for interior and exterior hire.