Brazenose House

Brazenose House lies immediately to the west of the site of the mediaeval Brazenose College, which is said to have been taken over by disgruntled students and masters from Oxford, who briefly established a university in Stamford in 1333-35. The old college was pulled down in 1688 and was replaced by Brazenose Hall, which housed a charity school from 1704 until it became the town workhouse in 1739.

The present Brazenose House was built before 1722 and probably took the Brazenose name when the defunct workhouse was demolished in 1822. The thirteenth century Brazenose Gateway, now built into the north wall of the garden, is thought to be the entrance gate to the original mediaeval college.

In 1890, Brazenose House was purchased by Brasenose College, Oxford, in order to acquire its brass door knocker in the shape of a lion’s head, which was believed to have been brought to Stamford during the fourteenth century secession. The original door knocker is now displayed above the high table in the dining hall of the Oxford college, while the knocker on Brazenose Gateway is a replica. The house subsequently became a girls’ academy until it was bought and incorporated into Stamford School in 1929.

Brazenose House is built of limestone with a Collyweston slate roof. It consists of two ranges, each of two storeys, along with an attic and a cellar. The street frontage has six bays and five hipped dormers. A two-storey bay window was added at the rear when the house was altered in the 1820s, and the south range overlooking the garden was further extended in 1989-90 when the interior of the property was extensively remodelled. To the east of the main house is a redeveloped single storey stable building with attic and a mansard roof.