Stanford, Northamptonshire

Description
Stanford, a village and a parish in Northamptonshire, on the river Avon, which separates it from Leicestershire, and on the Rugby and Stamford section of the L. & N.W.R., on which there is a station called Yelvertoft and Stanford Park, 8 miles ENE from Rugby. Post town, Rugby; money order office, Welford; telegraph office, at the railway station. The parish is crossed by the Grand Junction Canal. The manor, with Stanford Hall, belongs to Lord Braye, who is sole landowner. Stanford Hall is a fine mansion of brick and stone, erected in the reign of Queen Anne, and surrounded by a beautiful deer park of about 150 acres. It contains a very valuable collection of paintings, including works by Rubens, Vandyke, and several of the Dutch, Flemish, and Italian masters, some splendid specimens of tapestry, a good library containing many historical manuscripts of great interest and value, and some ancient and beautiful furniture of carved oak. The chapel of the house, dedicated to St Thomas a Beckett, is richly painted and decorated. The living is a discharged vicarage, united with that of Swinford, in the diocese of Peterborough; joint gross value, £280 with residence, in the gift of Lord Braye. The church, dedicated to St Nicholas, is a building of local limestone, red Warwickshire stone, and brick in the Early Decorated style. It contains many ancient and interesting tombs and monuments, and a fine modern marble tomb by Thorneycroft to Sarah, third Baroness Braye, who died 21 Feb., 1862. The church also possesses some very fine stained glass of different dates, varying from the commencement of The 14th on to the 16th centuries.