The ''Stamford Mercury'' (also the ''Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury'', the ''Rutland and Stamford Mercury'', and the ''Rutland Mercury'') based in Stamford,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, claims to be "Britain's oldest continuously published newspaper title". The ''Mercury'' has been published since 1712 but its masthead formerly claimed it was established in 1695 and still has "Britain's Oldest Newspaper". Three editions (Stamford and The Deepings,

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, and Bourne) are published every Friday. The ABC circulation figure in 2011 was 16,675. The ''Mercury'' is now owned by Iliffe Media; sister newspapers include ''The Rutland Times''. In January 2017,

Johnston Press Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', ''The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter ...

sold 13 of its East Midlands and East Anglia titles (including the ''Mercury'') to Iliffe Media for £17m. An edition of the ''Mercury'' from 22 May 1718 is the earliest newspaper in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

's newspaper reading room, The Newsroom.

Archives

The ''Mercury'' possesses the largest archive of any provincial newspaper. It contains over 15,000 newspapers and is complete from the middle of the 18th century. It also holds substantial numbers of annual volumes and individual copies prior to that, dating back to 1714. Since 2005, the archive has been in the care of the ''Stamford Mercury'' Archive Trust (www.smarchive.org.uk). The Trust received a grant of £305,000 from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

to undertake a five-year conservation programme. The Trust set out to microfilm every known copy of the ''Stamford Mercury'' in existence. Access to the archive is free for personal research. A copy of the complete microfilm run of the paper is available at Stamford Library.

References

External links

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''Mercury'' archive
Newspapers published in Lincolnshire Publications established in the 1710s 1712 establishments in England Companies based in Stamford, Lincolnshire {{England-newspaper-stub