Of the events of the next half century we will only mention the re-establishment and re-endowment of the old Grammar School (which is known to have been in existence for over two centuries previously) by William Radcliffe in 1530, the benefits of whose munificence are enjoyed to this day by the boys of the town and district. The latter half of the sixteenth century witnessed the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. This event in a town which, as we have seen, contained religious foundations of nearly every order then in existence, must have wrought an overwhelming upheaval, and as we contemplate the situation we are forced to realise that, to a great extent, Stamford’s glory had departed. In Elizabeth’s reign began the rise of the Cecil family, whose fortunes have since been so closely bound up with Stamford. Richard Cecil, the father of the great Lord Treasurer, obtained possession of the manor of Burghley in 1528, and, after adding considerably to the estates, died in 1552, and was buried in St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster. His more famous son William, afterwards first Lord Burghley, was born at Bourne, and received part of his education at Stamford Grammar School, proceeding thence to St. John’s College, Cambridge. He rose to be a statesman of eminence under Edward VI., but his name is, of course, more intimately associated with the reign of Elizabeth. The Queen on more than one occasion visited Stamford, and the room, with its furniture, which she occupied at Burghley House is still shown to visitors. The Lord Treasurer was a great benefactor to Stamford, of which he was made lord of the manor by his royal mistress. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to state that both branches of the Cecil family, now represented by the Marquises of Exeter and Salisbury, trace their descent from the Elizabethan statesman. In 1565 William Cecil employed John Thorpe to design “Burghley House by Stamford town,” which remains one of the stateliest of England’s stately homes. Seeing, however, that it stands in Northamptonshire, it is not intended to deal at length with the building or the wealth of artistic treasures which it contains. The troubles of the Civil War did not leave Stamford untouched, and Cromwell’s iconoclastic followers have left their mark on many a church and monument, while Burghley House underwent a siege in 1643.