Discover Stamford

Discover Stamford is the local history museum and heritage centre for Stamford, widely regarded as one of the finest stone-built towns in England and a place of exceptional architectural beauty and historical depth. Housed in the former Stamford Museum on Broad Street, the centre provides a compelling and accessible introduction to the long and fascinating story of this remarkable Lincolnshire town, from its prehistoric roots through the medieval and Georgian periods to the present day.

Stamford is a town of extraordinary architectural coherence, built almost entirely of the warm honey-coloured limestone that underlies this part of the county. Its streets of Georgian and earlier buildings have attracted visitors and filmmakers for generations — the town has served as a location for numerous period dramas including Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice, and other productions that require an authentic pre-industrial English streetscape. Understanding why Stamford looks the way it does, and how it came to be preserved so remarkably intact, is one of the great pleasures of a visit to this museum.

The museum's collections span the full arc of Stamford's history. Prehistoric finds from the surrounding area establish the long human occupation of this strategic crossing point of the River Welland. Roman material recalls the important role of the town in the road network of Roman Britain. Medieval artefacts, documents, and images illuminate the period when Stamford was a significant market town and briefly threatened to become the site of England's second university. The rich Georgian era, when the town's great houses and public buildings were built or refaced in limestone, is explored through architecture, material culture, and social history.

A dedicated display celebrates the Bull Running tradition that was unique to Stamford — an annual event held each November from medieval times until its abolition in 1840 amid considerable controversy and national attention, providing a vivid window onto the changing social attitudes of the Victorian era.

The museum also serves as the starting point for exploring Stamford's wider heritage, with staff who can advise visitors on the town's buildings, its fine churches, and the surrounding area including Burghley House, one of England's greatest Elizabethan prodigy houses.