The dawn of the twelfth century saw the beginning of the long era of building in and around Stamford, the visible results of which have rendered the town so famous among generations of ecclesiologists and students of architecture. St. Leonard’s Priory, already mentioned, which had suffered severely during the Danish incursions, was rebuilt at this time, and, judging by the remains of the nave of the Priory Church (which is all that now remains), must have been a noble edifice. The west front, the portion latest in date (_c._ 1190) of the existing fabric, is one of the finest examples of its kind in the country. In the centre of the lowest stage is a blocked doorway surmounted by a round arch of four highly enriched orders. The arch is supported by groups of elegant detached shafts, terminating in foliage caps of Early English character and exquisite workmanship. On either side of this central door is another smaller recess of similar character. Above, in the second stage, is an arcade of seven round-headed arches with chevron ornament, three being open and four blocked; while over this again, in the gable, is a vesica-shaped moulded recess. Sad to relate, this beautiful old building is now doing duty as a cart-shed! Stamford is not rich to-day in architecture of the Norman style, and St. Leonard’s Priory, a small portion of what remains of St. Paul’s Church (now used as part of the Grammar School premises), an arch on the west side of St. Mary’s Hill, known as the “Pack-horse Arch,” and a few fragments of the original Hospital of SS. John and Thomas (now incorporated in Lord Burghley’s Bedehouse at the south extremity of the bridge), are perhaps all that we can assign to this period. We must not, however, conclude from this that Stamford was ill equipped with churches and religious foundations in the twelfth century. All Saints’, Water Street, on the south side of the river, was erected in 1066, but has now entirely disappeared, while the original church on the site of the present St. Martin’s was begun in 1133. All Saints’ College (attached to Crowland Abbey) and St. Mary’s Benedictine Nunnery, founded in 1109 and 1120 respectively; St. Giles’ Lazar House (1150); the House of the Holy Sepulchre and Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene (of about the same date and with some remains still visible in a private residence known as “The Hermitage,” close to the George Hotel); St. Michael’s Priory (1156); the Hospital of St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas of Canterbury (1170); and a cell (_c._ 1200) of Peterborough Abbey, in Burghley Park (traces of which are said to remain in the kitchens of Burghley House)—form a list which, though incomplete, abundantly attests to the religious activity which existed here at this time. All the above were in the Northamptonshire part of the town. Of those on the north side, there is documentary evidence that the Church of “All Saints in the Mercat” (_i.e._ Market), so called to distinguish it from All Saints’, Water