Bed and breakfast availability
Grantham b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Grantham and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Grantham, Lincolnshire. The best preliminary view of the 281-ft spire of St Wulfram's Church, a landmark for miles around, is obtained by leaving Lincoln along The Cliff to the A607, passing two other notable spires on the way: the impressive one at Leadenham, and the apparently crooked one at Caythorpe.

Grantham, centre of fine coaching inns serving the old road to the North, once belonged to Edith, queen of Edward the Confessor. It was the second place in which an Eleanor Cross was erected, as Edward I directed they should be wherever his wife's body rested on its way back to London from Harby, where she died. The cross was destroyed in the Civil War and now a statue of Sir Isaac Newton, unveiled in 1858, stands in its place opposite the Victorian guildhall.

St Wulfram's magnificent, cathedral-like church is in Swinegate. There are six pillars left of the Norman church which it replaced, but its greatest beauties are its l4^th-century additions: the lady chapel with a lovely six-light traceried window, the north porch, the double-vaulted crypt, and the splendid steeple. Above the south porch, in what was once a priests' recess and washroom, is the chained library left to the church in 1598. The oldest book was printed in Venice in 1472, and 83 of the 150 are still attached to their original chains.

Immediately East of the church is Grantham House in 25 acres of land, making an open space in the middle of the town. It is now the property of the National Trust. The central hall is late 14^th-century and once housed Princess Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, on her way to marry James IV of Scotland.

Separated from the churchyard by a narrow lane is the l5^th-century grammar school, now known as King's School. The building with its high-pitched stone roof and mullioned windows is little changed. Among the hundreds of signatures on the sills are those of Isaac Newton, who arrived here in 1654, aged 12, Colley Cibber, and Queen Elizabeth's great treasurer, Lord Burghley.

In the Market Place is the stone conduit built in 1597 to protect the water brought by the Grey Friars from the springs at Gonerby. The two most important coaching inns are the 18^th-century George Hotel, and the Angel & Royal Trust House Hotel, one of the very few medieval hostelries left in the country, established by the Knights Templar. The gatehouse dates from the 15^th century and King John held court in 1213 in a room still known as the King's Chamber.

Nearby cities: Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham

Nearby towns: Bingham, Bourne, Melton Mowbray, Newark-on-Trent, Sleaford

Nearby villages: Allington, Ancaster, Barkston, Barrowby, Bassingthorpe, Belvoir, Bitchfield, Boothby Pagnell, Bottesford, Burton Coggles, Carlton Scroop, Caythorpe, Clipsham, Colsterworth, Cottesmore, Croxton Kerrial, Denton, Frieston, Great Gonerby, Great Ponton, Haceby, Harlaxton, Heydour, Honington, Hough-on-the-Hill, Hougham, Hungerton, Ingoldsby, Irnham, Kelby, Kilvington, Knipton, Lambley, Lenton, Long Bennington, Marston, Normanton, Norton Disney, Old Somerby, Rauceby, Redmile, Ropsley, Saltby, Sedgebrook, Skillington, Sproxton, Staunton in the Vale, Stonesby, Stretton, Syston, Waltham on the Wolds, Welby, Wilsford, Woolsthorpe

Have you decided to visit Grantham or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Grantham bed and breakfast (a Grantham B&B or Grantham b and b)
• a Grantham guesthouse
• a Grantham hotel (or motel)
• a Grantham self-catering establishment, or
• other Grantham accommodation