Stamford is a town at the South Western edge of Lincolnshire.
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| Stamford |
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| County: | Lincolnshire |
| District: | South Kesteven |
| Population: | 19,701 (2011 census) |
Stamford first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 922 as Steanford, however the Romans are known to have forded the river Welland near to the current town much earlier. In the Domesday Book it appears as Stanford which means stony ford.
Stamford became known for it's woollen cloth in the medieval period and was an inland port on the Great North Road. The town gained a wall for protection. A castle was built in 1075 by the Normans though was demolished in the 16th century. Only a small fragment of it's wall survives. Stamford was granted an annual fair, it remains a fixture and is the largest street fair in the county.
During the 16th century the town went into decline as the woollen cloth trade fell away. New leather, weaving and rope making industries in the following century helped Stamford arrest it's decline and grow again.
The town was an important religious centre during the Middle Ages and has a number of historic churches including All Saints, which has Saxon origins, and St John the Baptist which dates from the 12th. Of more recent vintage is Stamford railway station which was opened in 1848.
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| Stamford |
