Deepings NWR Ladies group (and one grandchild) took advantage of the brilliantly led eighteenth century Stamford Town Hall & Gaol tours. These tours take place on Fridays throughout the season.
The town hall situated on St Mary’s Hill was built in 1779 in a Neoclassical style replacing a town hall that spanned the entrance to the medieval Town Bridge across the river Welland. All traffic travelling across the bridge passed through an archway underneath the old town hall. This was indeed The Great North Road (before it was rerouted in 1960). From outside the town hall look left down the hill to see the former site. The Wansford Turnpike Trust paid for the relocated town hall.
Ian, our expert guide led us into the undercroft of the town hall. Aptly for Hallowe’en, we really experienced the dire conditions that existed for prisoners awaiting trial in two windowless stone gaol cells. This part of Ian’s tour was dimly torchlit and very atmospheric. The debtors prison, a larger cell for the ‘whole family’ was highly reminiscent of Dickens’ “Little Dorrit”.
Back upstairs we sat in the Mayor’s council chamber in the semi-circular purpose-built tables and chairs for a historical account of the aldermen and women, now majors of Stamford. Ian’s knowledge and enthusiasm was really engaging.
The front of the town hall upstairs is dominated by the old Court Room. It is a double height room lit by many windows. The legal furniture remains : the judge and jury benches; the dock and the bar. The upper parts of the walls are adorned by the plaques of all the names of the aldermen and mayors since records began. Interspersed are major English historical events some with pertinence to Stamford. Today, you can be married in this space.
Finally we enjoyed visiting the Mayor’s parlour where in former times a door and window onto the street allowed the major to perform business transactions directly with the townspeople. We were enthralled by the story of the Stamford Bull Running (a century or two before those in Pamplona etc). It did not end well for the bull…
Our guide let us see some of the vellum town charters dating back into the Medieval period. For history lovers this is the stuff of dreams.
Huge thanks to the volunteer tour guides and the town hall administration for running these events. Excellent facilities for coping with our less able members too.