Monday, September 10, 2018

Medieval Stamford: St Leonard's Priory


Stamford means Georgian architecture, doesn't it?

It does, but there is more to this amazing town that that. Because Stamford was also a walled medieval town.

Even today there are fragments of those walls left if you know where to look. And the bus station occupies the site of a Norman castle.

I was in Stamford today and looked for its medieval past. I found St Leonard's Priory.

Founded in the 12th century as an administrative base for the Diocese of Durham's more southerly properties, it was dissolved in 1538.

It was later used as a farm building - you can see where the masonry was hacked back to make room for a barn door.

The ornate Western front collapsed and was rebuilt in the 19th century.

Today the site acts as a park off one of the quieter roads into Stamford.







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