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East Midlands Stamford's Churches and Priories

Stamford is a town of churches and their towers and spires still dominate the town. Only six of the original seventeen medieval churches survive. One of those is now deconsecrated and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

ST PETER’S CHURCH was possibly the first church in Stamford and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Set on the top of a hill above the river, this was once the focal point of the town with the newly built Norman Castle. By the C14th the church was in a state of disrepair The parish was amalgamated with All Saints’ in the C16th and the church demolished. Now all that remains of the church is an attractive grassy area near the bus station surrounded by C18th housing.

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ST PAUL’S CHURCH was deconsecrated during the Reformation and part of it became a school room and is now the chapel of Stamford School.

ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH, the large and impressive building on High Street is C19th and replaced an earlier medieval building which collapsed following ill advised structural alternations to the nave involving the removal of arcade pillars. The church was made redundant in 1962 and later sold to a developer who gutted the building. The building now houses shops, building society and an insurance company.

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ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH

In the centre of Stamford, the tall crocketed spire of All Saints' Church towers above the neighbouring buildings. It is one of the oldest churches in Stamford and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Nothing remains of this church. The present building dates from the C13th.

Two very rich wool merchants, John and William Browne whose parents had been buried in the church, paid for it to be restored and enlarged in the mid C15th. They were responsible for the tower, the clerestory in the nave, rebuilding the north aisle and the battlements. They also replaced the Early English lancet windows with bigger Perpendicular windows.

It is a large church, with blind arcading around the walls, battlements and pinnacles as well as the glorious spire.

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The inside of the church doesn’t quite live up to the outside. Arcades separate the nave and side aisles. The north arcade pillars are very plain although they are later than the fluted pillars of the south arcade. The pews are C19th.

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The nave has a flat Perpendicular wooden roof supported on carved stone corbels and with gilded hanging bosses. A simple pointed arch leads into the chancel which has painted angels with gilded wings on the roof.

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The stone reredos behind the altar has a carving of the Last Supper.

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The clerestory windows contain clear glass. The rest of the windows contain C19th stained glass. The window to the left of the great west window was made by Charles Kempe and has images of the patron saints of Lincoln, Peterborough, Lichfield and York Cathedrals.

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The highly carved wood pulpit is C19th.

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The font is C15th.

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The painted statue of St Peter set in a niche at the back of the north aisle was given to the church in 1954. It is a reminder that All Saints’ Church was joined with that of St Peter in the C16th. St Peter’s Church is long gone.

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Overall I was disappointed by the interior, it didn’t live up to the flamboyant exterior!

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CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST

The square tower of St John the Baptist is just off Red Lion Square in the centre of Stamford and is a prominent landmark of the Stamford skyline. The church, with its small graveyard, is tucked away between buildings on either side. It is almost impossible to photograph. The church is no longer used and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.

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There has been a church on this site since the C12th and this is the third church to be built. It was completed in a very short time in the mid C15th and shows a remarkable degree of architectural unity. It has a square tower at the north west corner, nave with clerestory, side aisles and chancel.

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It was virtually untouched until the C19th when there was a major restoration in 1856. The pews and floor tiles were replaced, walls limewashed and new glass was put in the east and west windows. By the Mid C20th the nave arcades needed consolidating as a result of subsidence from the burial vaults beneath the floor. The tower parapets were renewed then.

The church joined with All Saints’ Church in 1980 and was declared redundant in 2003, when it was taken over by the Churches Conservation Trust.They have repaired the roofs repaired and improved heating and ventilation.

It is a simple, but very attractive church. C15th Perpendicular arcades separate the nave and side aisles. The chancel is very simple with a altar beneath the east window. The massive east window with the adoration of the Magi and the west window with scenes of the resurrection flood the church with light.

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Fragments of Medieval glass survive in the tops of the windows.

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The roof is the original C15th roof resting on carved stone corbel heads. One is two faced with a smiling and grimacing face. Between are winged angels. The roof was repainted during the C19th restoration and caused a certain amount of controversy at the time. The Stamford Mercury described it as clothing angels in ‘motley and theatrical attire’. They are still a trifle garish.

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The pews are mid C19th and have carefully carved poppyheads.

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In the nave floor is a C16th brass to Nicholas Byldsdon, and his wife Kateryn. The inscription commemorates Kateryn who died in 1489. Nicholas outlived her and was Alderman of Stamford in 1492 and 1501. The two small plates commemorate their four sons and five daughters.

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The rood screen was removed in the late C19th so the full glory of the east window could be seen from the nave. Part of the screen survives across the south and north chapels.

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The pulpit is C20th and was given by E Bowman and Sons who undertook restoration work in the church.

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The C15th font with quatrefoil panels stands by the south door. The cover is C17th.

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There is a splendid old clock by the tower and the original wooden poor box by the north west entrance.

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At back of church is a war memorial to the dead of World War One. On the walls are memorials to wealthy Stamford residents, including Sir Malcolm Sargent who is buried in the town cemetery. His father was organist and choirmaster. He sang in the choir and learnt to play the organ.

Two altar frontals hang on the south wall.

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This is a very attractive church and well worth visiting.

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St George’s Church

This is one of Stamford Medieval churches dating from the late C12th. Surrounded by its small graveyard and C18th buildings, it is a short walk from the town centre.

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There has been a church here since the C13th, although the present building is C15th, when wealthy merchant Sir William Bruges donated a considerable amount of money to extend the church with a clerestory, new roof, windows, furnishings and vestments. The tower is unusual as it is rectangular rather than square and was rebuilt in the C17th. The transepts and side aisles were sensitively restored in the C19th to the original style, when the population of Stamford was growing rapidly. With its battlemented roof line, it is an impressive building.

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It is an attractive church with a very modern feel. The C19th pews and choir stalls have been replaced by chairs and there is modern music and TV screen. Today St George’s is a vibrant evangelical church, attracting all ages, with three services each Sunday.

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The chancel with its wooden reredos, C18th memorials and stained glass window no longer feels the focus of the service.

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The painted ceiling with its angels is C15th. William Bruges was buried in the chancel and asked to be looked down on by carved angels in the roof.

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The stone font has been moved to the end of the south aisle, beneath the small war memorial with St George and the dragon.

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The church is normally only open for services on a Sunday. Friday Copnnect, a community cafe is open in the church on Friday mornings from 10-12. It has a very different feel to the other medieval churches in Stamford.

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ST MARTIN'S CHURCH

St Martin’s Church stood outside the city walls and was the burial place of the Cecil’s of Burghley House

It was regarded as separate from the other medieval churches. This may explain why it became part of the Diocese of Peterborough in 1541 while the other Stamford churches were in the Diocese of Lincoln. It was transferred back to Lincoln in 1990.

There has been a church on this site since the late C12th, although nothing remains of this church which was completely rebuilt in the C15th. Tucked between housing, only the west front and south porch are visible from the road. It is a very plain building with battlemented side aisles and tall crocketted pinnacles on the tower. The tower is very similar to that of the church of St John the Baptist and may have been built by the same group of masons.

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Inside it is a tall building and the slender Perpendicular style pillars accentuate the height.

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The wooden screen across the base of the tower with a carving of St George is a memorial to those in the parish who died in the First World War.

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At the back of the church is the early C14th font, which may have come from an earlier church on this site.

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A small doorway and stone spiral staircase leads to the room above the south porch.

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This was probably a priest’s room, but is now the Chapel of the Good Shepherd.

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Above the chancel arch is the Royal Coat of Arms. The wood nave roof is C18th. The side aisles still have the original C15th roof.

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The elaborately carved wooden pulpit is C19th.

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The great east window contains C15th and C16th glass., including some which came from Tattershall Church.

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The choir stalls are highly carved and give access into the North Chapel which contains the burial vault of the Cecil Family of Burghley House.

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Set under an arch between the chancel and north chapel is the splendid tomb of William Cecil, Lord Burghley who died in 1598. He was Lord high Treasurer of England and Privy Counsellor to Elizabeth I.

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The north chapel has monuments to other members of the family and hatchments hanging on the walls. There is a monument to William’s parents, Richard and Jane Cecil.

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The splendid Baroque monument is of John Cecil, Fifth Earl of Exeter who died in 1700.

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The church is a short walk from the other medieval churches in Stamford and is across the river. It is worth finding and is open daily.

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ST MARY'S CHURCH

St Mary’s Church is an Anglo Catholic church and there is a strong smell of incense as soon as you enter.

The earliest parts of the church date from the C12th, although it was rebuilt in the C15th when the clerestory was added. The tower with its blind arcading was added in the C13th, and the spire added around 1300. The south porch and north chancel chapel date from the C15th.

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Inside it is quite a small church, with a two pillared arcade separating the nave and side aisles. The back of the church is very plain with a glazed doorway leading into the tower and two filled in windows above, which look nas if they could have been part of the C12th church.

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The stone font is at the back of the church.

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The stained glass is C19th although there are pieces of medieval stained glass in one of the windows.

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The rood screen, pews and chancel ceilings date from the Arts and Crafts refurbishment in the late C19th/early C20th. The Rood was dedicated in 1920 as a war memorial to the dead of the Great War.

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The Pulpit next to it dates from this refurbishment.

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The door in the rood screen were locked, so I had to take photographs through the screen. Both the chancel and Corpus Christie Chapel to the north have painted ceilings. That of the Corpus Christie Chapel dates from around 1484. Between the two is the massive tomb of Sir David Phelphs who died in 1506. He fought alongside Henry VII at Bosworth Field and was steward to Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII.

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On the north wall of Corpus Christie Chapel are two empty tomb arches. Beyond them, hidden behind the lectern, is a late C14th tomb with a mutilated effigy which may have served as an Easter Sepulchre. The stone statue of Our Lady in the north east dates from around 1330 and was found behind some panelling during the refurbishment.

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Again this is a very different church. It is much smaller than the other medieval churches.

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MEDIEVAL PRIORIES

As well as the medieval churches, there were two priories in Stamford, St Leonard's and Austin Friary.

All that is left of AUSTIN FRIARY to the west of the town are a few bumps in the ground. This was founded in the C14th but little is known about it. It was only a small friary with six friars when it was Dissolved by Henry VIII and the buildings were dismantled for building stone

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ST LEONARD'S PRIORY

St Leonard's Priory was built to the east of the town. In some ways, there isn’t a lot to see here, just the remains of part of the Priory church, but what is left is one of the best surviving examples of Norman architecture in Stamford.

This was the site of a Saxon monastery founded by St Wilfrid in 658, which was destroyed during Danish raids and was rebuilt in 1082 by the monks of Durham, to administer their southern properties. It was a small foundation with few monks. Its income came from mixed farming and the monks always had problems making ends meet.

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The priory was dissolved in 1538 and its lands were granted to Sir William Cecil. The site became a farm and the church buildings were converted into a barn.

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Much of the rest of the priory buildings were used for building stone. By1833 the building had deteriorated and west front had collapsed. This was rebuilt by the Marquis of Exeter.

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All that remains of the priory is the Norman nave, which formed one wall of the cloisters. The doorway from the church into the cloisters can still be seen. On the opposite side, an arcade of round pillars and arches which would have opened into the north aisle. One of the Norman clerestory windows survives above one of the arches.

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The inner wall was built in the C19th in the Neo-Norman style with a doorway leading into the building.

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The priory was built on the eastern outskirts of Stamford, near the River Welland. It is surrounded by grass and trees and is in the care of Stamford Civic Society.

The grounds are open to the public and with plenty of seats is a lovely spot to drop out. The building is not normally open apart from Heritage Open days. There is no parking at the priory although Morrisons Car park is a few minutes walks away. The nearest post code is PE9 2EU.
 

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