Looking back at what’s been filmed in Stamford from Netflix’s The Crown to Pride and Prejudice
Over the years film-makers have taken a shine to Stamford.
The historic market town is best known for its picturesque buildings, abundance of independent shops and a variety of restaurants, pubs and coffee shops.
But its charm doesn’t just attract tourists - it has also captured the attention of TV and film producers.
Since the 1980s the Georgian buildings and the iconic Burghley House on the outskirts of town have featured in productions on the big and small screen.
After a tour with Stamford Sights and Secrets and delving into the rich archive of the Mercury, we have compiled a list of films and TV shows which feature our town at its best.
Middlemarch
Middlemarch, a six-part series, was screened on BBC2 in 1994 and was popular with viewers at the time.
Stamford was heavily used in the filming with locations including Barn Hill, All Saints’ Place, King’s Mill Lane, St Mary’s Street and St George’s Square.
To make up the set, Stamford Arts Centre was transformed into a pub, the houses in St George’s Square had shop fronts added to them and market stalls were stationed on the road.
Barn Hill’s former clinic was also transformed into a fever hospital, the Vaults pub in St Mary’s Street was made into a surveyors and a home in King’s Mill Lane becameo The Green Dragon Inn.
A Mercury report from July 1993 said that designers chose Stamford because very few Georgian houses survived the Second World War bombing of Coventry - original author George Eliot’s intended location.
For the summer of 1993, actors and crews descended on the town and unlike now, where filming is kept under wraps, local people were recruited to be extras on the show.
Pride and Prejudice
In 2005 Stamford was transformed into the fictional location of Meryton in the film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
While filming was going on, hundreds of men in red coats could be seen marching up and down St George’s Square with horses stationed outside Stamford Arts Centre.
On one occasion the churchyard in the square was filled with sheep used in the filming.
Pillars were added to the side of the arts centre building to give it a regal town square feeling and a new house was added blocking Maiden Lane.
With crews and actors there for a couple of weeks, a number of stars were spotted around the town, including Keira Knightley who was papped in Stamford High Street with her boyfriend at the time, Jamie Dornan.
One of the stars of the show Matthew Macfadyen, who played Mr Darcy, had a local link himself, having attended Oakham School as a child.
All the locals wanted to be involved and there was so much interest the film was shown at Stamford Arts Centre 40 times.
The Da Vinci Code
The 2006 mystery thriller was filmed at a number of locations including Burghley House in Stamford.
Renowned actor Tom Hanks starred in the film which featured Burghley’s House’s 'Hell staircase'.
Space
Stamford’s St George’s Square was ‘bombed’ and swastikas were strung up at the town hall for filming of 1980s movie Space.
The series told the story of the space race from the end of the Second World War to man landing on the moon in 1969.
Stamford was used as the German town of Wittenburg in the first episode and was chosen by the directors because of the old buildings.
Actor Michael York, known for starring in Romeo and Juliet and the Austin Powers movies, took part in a scene walking down the town hall steps surrounded by uniformed officers.
A number of people, who were teenagers at the time, were recruited to be extras.
Another Country
The 1984 romantic historical drama was written by Julian Mitchell and adapted from his play of the same name.
It is the film where Rupert Everett and Colin Firth made his feature debut.
Featuring a young Colin Firth, part of the film was shot in Barn Hill and at The Crown Hotel in All Saints’ Place.
The film is based on the life of a spy and explores homosexuality, exposure to Marxism and snobbery in the English public school system.
Citadel
The new Amazon action series starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra is said to feature scenes filmed at Burghley House last year.
The Crown
In recent years, the Netflix series has been the most prominent TV show filmed in the area.
Clearly a producers’ favourite location, Burghley House has featured in the past few seasons of the show.
It doubled up as Windsor Castle and was last season seen burning in scenes to replicate the fire in 1992.
In season four the Heaven Room features in a scene which shows Lady Diana Spencer, played by Emma Corrin, choosing her engagement ring. Josh O’Connor also stars in the scene as Prince Charles.
A number of well-known actors filmed at Burghley House last year including Imelda Staunton, who plays the Queen and Jonny Lee Miller, actor for the then Prime Minister John Major.
The town centre was also used for a cutaway scene in season five of The Crown.
Nelsons Butchers in Broad Street was transformed into a Chinese takeaway with Christmas fair posters in its windows while Barnardo's was decked out to look festive.
Clearly flaunting the regal look, Stamford was used for filming of Elizabeth: The Golden Age too.
The Flash
Having just hit the screens, Burghley House doubles up as Batman's home Wayne Manor in the new DC Comics movie The Flash.
Eagle-eyed viewers will spot a few glimpses of Stamford in the Hollywood trailer as Burghley House makes four fleeting appearances in the three-minute video.
This includes scenes shot from the roof, the West front, the Great Hall and the Hell Staircase.
Actor Ezra Miller, who plays the role of 'The Flash', is in several scenes filmed at Burghley House.
Crews descended upon the stately home in May 2021 for three weeks to film the new superhero movie.
On one of the days of filming, people walking in Burghley Park witnessed machines produce smoke around the house which billowed across the parkland.
My Mad Fat Diary
This E4 show was both set in mid-1990s Stamford and filmed in the town between 2013 and 2016.
Based on real diaries by Rae Earl, originally from Stamford, the show takes a look at life through the eyes of a funny and music-mad teenager.
The BAFTA-nominated show stars Sharon Rooney and Jodie Comer.
With a lot of interest from both townspeople and tourists Stamford Sights and Secrets are offering a tour - called Location, Location, Location - giving residents a glimpse of Stamford’s showbiz past and present.
On the tours Ruth Clewlow, co-founder of Stamford Sights and Secrets, gives in depth detail on the locations and how they were chosen.
“Stamford still has its core medieval streets with more than 600 listed buildings.
“Made a conservation town in 1967 it has retained its lovely buildings and quirky little streets.
“It is such a joy to walk around - you feel like you are stepping back in time.
“It is so quintessentially English and is a perfect location.”
The next tours will be running on July 8 and September 16.
Tickets can be booked at: https://www.stamfordsightsandsecretstours.com/tours.
Share your filming memories by emailing smeditor@stamfordmercury.co.uk.