Stamford, just inside Lincolnshire on the edge of the old Great North Road, is often called the finest stone town in England, and it earns the title. Built almost entirely from the local honey-coloured limestone, with five medieval church spires rising over a tight knot of streets, it is so handsome and so consistent that it is regularly used as a film location for period dramas. Yet it remains a real, working town rather than a museum.
Walking the town
The pleasure of Stamford is simply walking it. The streets are lined with stone houses from medieval to Georgian, the churches are open and worth a look, and the whole centre is compact enough to cover slowly in a morning. There are independent shops, old coaching inns and a riverside meadow on the edge of town that feels properly rural despite being a few minutes' walk from the centre.
What to do
- Visit Burghley House on the edge of town, one of the greatest Elizabethan houses in England, with vast grounds for walking.
- Browse the independent shops and the regular markets, then take tea in one of the old inns.
- Walk along the River Welland and across the water meadows for the classic view of the spires.
Getting there
Stamford is on the railway and only an hour or so from London by a change at Peterborough, which makes it an easy and underrated weekend escape. The town is best on foot; leave the car and wander.
It works in any season, lovely in spring blossom, golden in autumn light, atmospheric in winter frost. Stamford does not shout about itself, which is part of its charm; it simply gets on with being one of the prettiest small towns in the country. For a quiet, civilised weekend of stone streets, good food and a great house on the doorstep, it is hard to better.