It was housed in a Victorian building in Broad Street, Stamford, and was run by the museum services of Lincolnshire County Council from 1980 to 2011.

It is built from oolitic limestone and designed by local architect, John Charles Traylen.

The museum moved to these premises in 1980, having originally been located in the library on High Street where it had opened in 1961.

The museum interpreted the town's history, including Stamford Ware Pottery and the 18th-century Daniel Lambert, renowned for his girth.

Notable exhibits included a Blackstone oil engine and the only known fragment of the Stamford Eleanor Cross.