Human settlement in the area began before theBronze Age, as can be seen at theFlag Fen archaeological site to the east of the city centre. There is evidence ofRoman occupation. TheAnglo-Saxon period saw the establishment of a monastery,Medeshamstede, which later becamePeterborough Cathedral. In the 19th century, the population grew rapidly after the coming of the railway. The area became known for itsbrickworks and engineering. After the Second World War, industrial employment fell and growth was limited until Peterborough was designated anew town in the 1960s. The main economic sectors now are financial services and distribution.
Thecathedral city ofEly is 24 miles (39 km) east-southeast across theFens and the university city ofCambridge is 30 miles (48 km) to the southeast. The local topography is flat, and in places, the land lies below sea level.
The original name of the town wasMedeshamstede. The town's name changed toBurgh from the late tenth century, possibly after Abbot Kenulf had built adefensive wall around the abbey which was dedicated toSaint Peter; eventually this developed into the form Peterborough. In the 12th century, the town was also known asGildenburgh, which is found in the Peterborough version of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle (see Peterborough Chronicle below) and a history of the abbey by the monkHugh Candidus.[4] The town does not appear to have been aborough until at least the 12th century.[5]
Peterborough and its surrounding areas around have been inhabited for thousands of years because it is where permanently drained land inThe Fens is created by theRiver Nene. Remains of Iron Age settlement and what is thought to be religious activity can be seen at theFlag Fen archaeological site to the east of the city centre. The Romans established a fortified garrison town atDurobrivae onErmine Street, five miles (8.0 km) to the west in Water Newton, around the middle of the 1st century AD. Durobrivae's earliest appearance among surviving records is in theAntonine Itinerary of the late 2nd century.[6] There was also a large 1st centuryRoman fort atLongthorpe, designed to house half alegion, or about 3,000 soldiers;[7] it may have been established as early as around AD 44–48.[8] Peterborough was an important area of ceramic production in the Roman period, providingNene Valley Ware that was traded as far away as Cornwall and theAntonine Wall, Caledonia.[9]
Peterborough is shown by its original name Medeshamstede to have possibly been anAnglian settlement before AD 655, whenSexwulf founded a monastery on land granted to him for that purpose byPeada of Mercia, who converted toChristianity and was briefly ruler of the smallerMiddle Angles sub-group. His brotherWulfhere murdered his own sons, similarly converted and then finished the monastery by way ofatonement.[10]
Hereward the Wake rampaged through the town in 1069 or 1070. Outraged, Abbot Turold erected a fort or castle, which, from his name, was called Mont Turold: this mound, or hill, is on the outside of the deanery garden, now called Tout Hill, although in 1848 Tot-hill or Toot Hill.[11] Theabbey church was rebuilt and greatly enlarged in the 12th century.[12] ThePeterborough Chronicle, a version of the Anglo-Saxon one, contains unique information about thehistory of England after theNorman conquest, written here by monks in the 12th century.[13] This is the only known prose history in English between the conquest and the later 14th century.[14] The burgesses received their first charter from "Abbot Robert" – probably Robert of Sutton (1262–1273).[15] The place suffered materially in the war betweenKing John and the confederate barons, many of whom took refuge in the monastery here and inCrowland Abbey, from which sanctuaries they were forced by the king's soldiers, who plundered the religious houses and carried off great treasures.[10] The abbey church became one ofHenry VIII's retained, more secular, cathedrals in 1541,[16] having been assessed at the Dissolution as having revenue of £1,972.7s.0¾d per annum.[10]
Whencivil war broke out, Peterborough was divided between supporters ofKing Charles I and theLong Parliament. The city lay on the border of theEastern Association of counties which sided with Parliament, and the war reached Peterborough in 1643 when soldiers arrived in the city to attack Royalist strongholds atStamford andCrowland. The Royalist forces were defeated within a few weeks and retreated toBurghley House, where they were captured and sent toCambridge.[17] While the Parliamentary soldiers were in Peterborough, however, they ransacked the cathedral, destroying theLady Chapel,chapter house,cloister, high altar and choir stalls, as well as mediaeval decoration and records.[18]
Among the privileges claimed by the abbot as early as the 13th century was that of having a prison for felons taken in theSoke of Peterborough, aliberty withinNorthamptonshire. This afforded it administrative and judicial independence from the rest of the county, with it having aquarter sessions separate from the rest of Northamptonshire from 1349.[19] In 1576 BishopEdmund Scambler sold thelordship of the hundred ofNassaburgh, which was coextensive with the Soke, to QueenElizabeth I, who gave it toLord Burghley, and from that time until the 19th century he and his descendants, the Earls andMarquesses of Exeter, had a separate gaol for prisoners arrested in the Soke.[15] The abbot formerly held four fairs, of which two, St. Peter's Fair, granted in 1189 and later held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday in July, and the Brigge Fair, granted in 1439 and later held on the first Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in October, were purchased by thecorporation from theEcclesiastical Commissioners in 1876. The Bridge Fair, as it is now known, granted to the abbey byKing Henry VI, survives.[20] Prayers for the opening of the fair were once said at the morning service in the cathedral, followed by a civic proclamation and a sausage lunch at thetown hall which still takes place. The mayor traditionally leads a procession from the town hall to the fair where the proclamation is read, asking all persons to "behave soberly and civilly, and to pay their just dues and demands according to the laws of the realm and the rights of the City of Peterborough".[21]
There were 50 raids on the city, with seven houses destroyed. On January 15 1941 at 11pm, 5 high explosives landed near Walpole Street, one man was killed. On May 10 1941 at 3.35am, 4 high explosives landed near Priestgate, with two men killed;RAF Wittering was also bombed at around 3.15am.[22]
Railway lines began operating locally during the 1840s, but it was the 1850 opening of theGreat Northern Railway's line from London toYork that transformed Peterborough from a market town to an industrial centre.Lord Exeter had opposed the railway passing through Stamford, so Peterborough, situated between two main terminals at London andDoncaster, increasingly developed as a regional hub.[23]
Burghley House (1555–1587), seat of the Marquess of Exeter, hereditary Lord Paramount of Peterborough
Coupled with vast local clay deposits, the railway enabled large scale brickmaking and distribution to take place. The area was the UK's leading producer of bricks for much of the twentieth century. Brick-making had been a small seasonal craft since the early nineteenth century, but during the 1890s successful experiments atFletton using the harder clays from a lower level had resulted in a much more efficient process.[24] The market dominance during this period of theLondon Brick Company, founded by the prolific Scottish builder and architectJohn Cathles Hill, gave rise to some of the country's most well-known landmarks, all built using the ubiquitous Fletton Brick.[25]Perkins Engines was established in Peterborough in 1932 byFrank Perkins, creator of the Perkins diesel engine. Thirty years later it employed more than a tenth of the population of Peterborough, mainly atEastfield.[26]Baker Perkins had relocated from London toWestwood, now the site ofHM Prison Peterborough, in 1903, followed byPeter Brotherhood toWalton in 1906; both manufacturers of industrial machinery, they too became major employers in the city.[27]British Sugar has moved its headquarters toHampton fromWoodston, thebeet sugar factory, which opened there in 1926, was closed in 1991.[28]
On August 22, 1956, much of the old city centre was destroyed by the Great Fire of Peterborough.[29] The blaze started in theRobert Sayle shop on the corner of Cowgate and King Street and spread to a shoe shop, furniture store and the localfire station.[30] It caused over £250,000 worth of damage and was extinguished with assistance from theUSAF atAlconbury.[31]
TheNorwich and Peterborough (N&P) was formed by the merger of the Norwich Building Society and the Peterborough Building Society in 1986. It was the ninth largest building society at the time of its merger into theYorkshire Group in 2011.[32] N&P continued to operate under its own brand administered at Lynch Wood until 2018. Prior to merger with theMidlands Co-op in 2013,Anglia Regional, the UK's fifth largest co-operative society, was also based in Peterborough, where it was established in 1876.[33] The combined society began trading asCentral England Co-operative in 2014.
Designated aNew Town in 1967,Peterborough Development Corporation was formed in partnership with the city and county councils to house London'soverspill population in newtownships sited around the existing urban area.[34] There were to be four townships, one each atBretton (originally to be called Milton, a hamlet in theMiddle Ages),Orton,Paston/Werrington andCastor. The last of these was never built, but a fourth, calledHampton, is now taking shape south of the city. It was decided that the city should have a major indoor shopping centre at its heart. Planning permission was received in late summer 1976 andQueensgate, containing over 90 stores and including parking for 2,300 cars, was opened by QueenBeatrix of the Netherlands in 1982. 34 miles (55 km) of urban roads were planned and a network of high-speed landscaped thoroughfares, known asparkways, was constructed.[35]
Peterborough's population grew by 45.4% between 1971 and 1991. New service sector companies likeThomas Cook andPearl Assurance were attracted to the city, ending the dominance of the manufacturing industry as employers. Anurban regeneration company named Opportunity Peterborough, under the chairmanship ofLord Mawhinney, was set up by theOffice of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2005 to oversee Peterborough's future development.[36] Between 2006 and 2012 a £1 billion redevelopment of the city centre and surrounding areas was planned. The master plan provided guidelines on the physical shaping of the city centre over the next 15–20 years. Proposals are still progressing for the north of Westgate, the south bank and the station quarter, whereNetwork Rail is preparing a major mixed use development.[37] Whilst recognising that the reconfiguration of the relationship between the city and station was critical,English Heritage found the current plans for Westgate unconvincing and felt more thought should be given to the vitality of the historic core.[38]
In recent years Peterborough has undergone significant changes with numerous developments underway, most notably are Fletton Quays, a project to construct 350 apartments, various office spaces as well as a new home forPeterborough City Council with other projects within the development to include aHilton Garden Inn hotel with a sky bar, a new passport office and various leisure, restaurant and retail opportunities. Other projects within the city include the extension toQueensgate Shopping Centre, The Great Northern Hotel and more recently plans to extend therailway station and long stay car park to facilitate more office space in the city centre and further parking.
The area governed by the city council is thedistrict ofPeterborough, which extends beyond the urban area of Peterborough itself to include surrounding villages and rural areas, particularly to the north-west and north-east. Peterborough'scity status is formally held by the local government district rather than the urban area.[41] Much of the Peterborough urban area isunparished, but some of the suburbs are included incivil parishes, includingBretton,Hampton Hargate and Vale,Orton Longueville, andOrton Waterville.[42]
Peterborough was anancient parish, which was historically in theNassaburgh hundred ofNorthamptonshire.[43] The parish was divided into fivehamlets or townships:Dogsthorpe,Eastfield,Longthorpe,Newark and a Peterborough township covering the central part of the parish including the town. Within the Peterborough township was anextra-parochial area known as the Minster Precincts, covering St Peter's Abbey and itsclose. When the former abbey church becamePeterborough Cathedral in 1541, Peterborough was thereafter deemed to be acity. The area originally holding city status was the Peterborough township plus the Minster Precincts.[44]
Although made a city in 1541, at that time Peterborough was not aborough (despite including the word in its name). Prior to thedissolution of the abbey in 1539, the abbey had been themanorial owner of the town; that ownership passed to the new cathedral authorities. APeterborough constituency was also created in 1541, covering the same area as the city.[44][45]
In 1790, a body ofimprovement commissioners was established to provide public services in the city.[46] In 1874 Peterborough was incorporated as amunicipal borough, with the commissioners replaced by an elected council initially comprising a mayor, sixaldermen and eighteencouncillors.[47][48]
The municipal borough was abolished in 1974 when the modern district was created, being a lower tiernon-metropolitan district, with the area also being transferred to Cambridgeshire at the same time.[49] In 1998 the Peterborough district was removed from thenon-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire (the area governed byCambridgeshire County Council) to become a unitary authority, whilst remaining part of theceremonial county of Cambridgeshire for the purposes oflieutenancy andshrievalty.[50]
Figures plotting growth from 1995 to 2004, revealed that Peterborough had become the most successful economy among unitary authorities in the East of England. They also revealed that the city's economy had grown faster than the regional average and any other economy in the region.[51] It has a strong economy in the environmental goods and services sector and has the largest cluster of environmental businesses in the UK.[52]
In 1994, Peterborough designated itself one of four environment cities in the UK and began working to become the country's acknowledged environment capital.[53] Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT), an independent charity, was set up at the same time to work towards this goal, delivering projects promoting healthier and sustainable living in the city.[54] Until 2017, PECT organised a yearly 'Green Festival' centered around Cathedral Square, Peterborough, which also benefited local artists and arts organisations through attracting Arts Council funding grants aided by arts facilitator organisation Metal.[55] During the summer of 2018 the last Green Festival was held at Nene Park, in 2019 Peterborough's community environmental projects attracted ministerial attention from the environment secretaryMichael Gove.[56] During theCOVID-19 pandemic of 2020–21 Peterborough's culture and leisure umbrella charity,Vivacity ceased operating.[57]
The council andregional development agency have taken advice on regeneration issues from a number of internationally recognised experts, includingBenjamin Barber (formerly an adviser to PresidentBill Clinton), Jan Gustav Strandenaes (United Nations adviser on environmental issues) and Patama Roorakwit (a Thai "community architect").[58]
According to the2001 census, the workplace population of 90,656 is divided into 60,118 people who live in Peterborough and 30,358 people who commute in. A further 13,161 residents commute out of the city to work.[59] Earnings in Peterborough are lower than average.Median earnings for full-time workers were £11.93 per hour in 2014, less than the regional median for the East of England of £13.62 and the median hourly rate of £13.15 forGreat Britain as a whole.[60] As part of the government'sM11 corridor, Peterborough is committed to creating 17,500 jobs with the population growing to 200,000 by 2020.[61]
Future employment will also be created through the plan for the city centre launched by the council in 2003. Predictions of the levels and types of employment created were published in 2005.[37] These include 1,421 jobs created in retail; 1,067 created in a variety of leisure and cultural developments; 338 in three hotels; and a further 4,847 jobs created in offices and other workspaces. Recent relocations of large employers include bothTesco (1,070 employees) andDebenhams (850 employees) distribution centres.[62] A further 2,500 jobs were to be created in the £140 million Gateway warehouse and distribution park. This was expected to compensate for the 6,000 job losses as a result of the decline in manufacturing, anticipated in a report cited by the cabinet member for economic growth and regeneration in 2006.[63]
With traditionally low levels of unemployment, Peterborough is a popular destination for workers and has seen significant growth through migration since the postwar period. The leader of the council said in August 2006 that he believed that 80% of the 65,000 people who had arrived inEast Anglia from the states thatjoined the European Union in 2004 were living in Peterborough.[64] To help cope with this influx, the council put forward plans to construct an average of 1,300 homes each year until 2021.[65] Peterborough Trades Council, formed in 1898, is affiliated to theTrades Union Congress.[66]
TheRiver Nene, made navigable from the port atWisbech toNorthampton by 1761,[68] passes through the city centre. TheNene Viaduct carries the railway over the river. It was built in 1847 by SirWilliam andJoseph Cubitt.[69] William Cubitt was the chief engineer of Crystal Palace erected at Hyde Park in 1851. Apart from some minor repairs in 1910 and 1914 (the steel bands and cross braces around the fluted legs) the bridge remains as Cubitts built it. Now a Grade II* listed structure, it is the oldest surviving cast iron railway bridge in the UK.[70] By the Town Bridge, the Customs House, built in the early eighteenth century, is a visible reminder of the city's past function as an inland port.[71] TheEnvironment Agency navigation starts at the junction with the Northampton arm of theGrand Union Canal and extends for 91 miles (146 km) ending at Bevis Hall just upstream of Wisbech. The tidal limit used to be Woodston Wharf until the Dog-in-a-Doubletlock was built five miles (8.0 km) downstream in 1937.[72]
TheA1/A1(M) primary route (part ofEuropean route E15) broadly follows the path of the historicGreat North Road fromSt Paul's Cathedral in the heart of London, passing Peterborough (Junction 17), and continuing north a further 335 miles (539 km) to centralEdinburgh. In 1899 theBritish Electric Traction Company sought permission for a tramway joining the northern suburbs with the city centre. The system, which operated under the namePeterborough Electric Traction Company, opened in 1903 and was abandoned in favour of motor buses in 1930, when it was merged into theEastern Counties Omnibus Company.[73] Today, bus services in the city are operated by several companies includingStagecoach (formerlyCambus and Viscount) andDelaine Buses. Despite its large-scale growth, Peterborough has the fastest peak and off-peak travel times for a city of its size in the UK, due to the construction of the parkways. TheLocal Transport Plan anticipated expenditure totalling around £180 million for the period up to 2010 on major road schemes to accommodate development.[74]
The combination of rail connections to thePort of Felixstowe and to the East Coast Main Line as well as a road connection via the A1(M) has led to Peterborough being proposed as the site of a 334 acres (1.35 km2) rail-road logistics and distribution centre to be known as Magna Park.[75]
The Peterborough MillenniumGreen Wheel is a 50-mile (80 km) network of cycleways, footpaths and bridleways which provide safe, continuous routes around the city with radiating spokes connecting to the city centre. The project has also created a sculpture trail, which provides functional, landscape artworks along the Green Wheel route and a Living Landmarks project involving the local community in the creation of local landscape features such as mini woodlands, ponds and hedgerows.[76] Another long-distance footpath, theHereward Way, runs fromOakham in Rutland, through Peterborough, toEast Harling in Norfolk.[77] While cycling within the city received a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic with the introduction of new cycle lanes in busy streets, plans to connect the villages to the west of Peterborough with a new cycle track have been refused permission and some cycle lane decisions have been reversed in the city centre during easing of the corona virus lockdowns.[78][79]
The City of Peterborough local authority area has a population of 223,655 (2024).[80] It is forecast to reach 230,000 in 2031 and 240,000 by around 2041.[81]
Customs House (1790) on the north bank of the river, from the Town Bridge
Peterborough's population growth was reportedly the second fastest of any British city over the ten years from 2004 to 2013, driven partly by immigration.[88]
According to the2011 census, 82.5% of Peterborough's residents categorised themselves aswhite, 2.8% ofmixed ethnic groups, 11.7%Asian, 2.3%black and 0.8% other. Amongst the white population, the largest categories were indigenous groups, those being English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British (70.9%), andother white (10.6%). Those ofPakistani ethnicity accounted for 6.6% of the population and those ofIndian ethnicity 2.5.%. The largest black group were those of African ethnicity (1.4%).[89]
Peterborough is home to one of the largest concentrations ofItalian immigrants in the UK. This is mainly as a result oflabour recruitment in the 1950s by the London Brick Company in the southern Italian regions ofApulia andCampania. By 1960, approximately 3,000 Italian men were employed by London Brick, mostly at theFletton works.[90] In 1962, theScalabrini Fathers, who first arrived in 1956, purchased an old school and converted it into a mission church named after thepatron saint of workersSaint Joseph (San Giuseppe). By 1991, over 3,000christenings ofsecond-generation Italians had been carried out there.[91] In 1996, it was estimated that the Italian community of Peterborough numbered 7,000, making it the third largest in the UK after London andBedford.[92] The 2011 Census recorded 1,179 residents born in Italy.[93]
In the late twentieth century the main source of immigration was from newCommonwealth countries.[94] The 2011 Census showed that a total of 24,166 migrants moved to Peterborough between 2001 and 2011. The city has experienced significant immigration from theA8 countries that joined the European Union in 2004, and in 2011, 14,134 residents of the city were people born in Central and Eastern Europe.[95]
According to a report published by the police in 2007, recent migration had resulted in increased translation costs and a change in the nature of crime in the county, with an increase indrink driving offences, knife crime and an international dimension added to activities such as runningcannabis factories andhuman trafficking. The number of foreign nationals arrested in the north of the county rose from 894 in 2003, to 2,435 in 2006, but the report also said that "inappropriately negative" community perceptions about migrant workers often complicate routine incidents, raising tensions and turning them "critical". It also noted there was "little evidence that the increased numbers of migrant workers have caused significant or systematic problems in respect of community safety or cohesion".[96] In 2007,Julie Spence, the thenChief Constable emphasised that the fact that the demographic profile of Cambridgeshire had changed dramatically from one where 95% of teenagers were white four years previously to one of the country's fastest growing diverse populations, and said it had a positive impact on development and jobs.[97] In 2008, theBBC broadcastThe Poles are Coming!, a documentary on the impact ofPolish migration to Peterborough byTim Samuels, as part of itsWhite Season.[98]
The number of languages in use is growing where previously few languages other than English were spoken. As of 2006[update], Peterborough offered classes in Italian,Urdu andPunjabi in its primary schools.[99][needs update]
Norman gateway below the chapel of St. Nicholas (1177–1194), Minster Precincts
Christianity has the largest following in Peterborough, in particular theChurch of England, with a significant number of parish churches and a cathedral. 56.7% of Peterborough's residents classified themselves as Christian in the 2011 Census.[100] It was reported in 2007 that recent immigration to the city had also seen the Roman Catholic population increase substantially.[101] Otherdenominations are also in evidence; the latest church to be constructed is a £7 million "superchurch,"KingsGate, formerly Peterborough Community Church, which can seat up to 1,800 worshippers.[102] In comparison with the rest of England, Peterborough has a lower proportion of Christians,Buddhists,Hindus,Jews andSikhs. The city has a higher percentage ofMuslims than England as a whole (9.4% compared to 5% nationally).[100] The majority of Muslims reside in theMillfield,West Town andNew England areas of the city, where two large mosques (including the Faidhan-e-Madina Mosque and Husaini Islamic Center-Peterborough) are based.[103] Peterborough also has both Hindu (Bharat Hindu Samaj)[104] and Sikh (Singh Sabha Gurdwara) temples in these areas.[105]
Peterborough has one independent boarding school:The Peterborough School at Westwood House, founded in 1895. The school caters for girls and now boys up to the age of 18. Peterborough's state schools have recently undergone significant change. Five of the city's fifteen secondary schools were closed in July 2007, to be demolished over the coming years.John Mansfield (now an adult learning centre), Hereward (formerly Eastholm, now City of Peterborough Academy, sponsored by the Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust) andDeacon's were replaced with the flagshipThomas Deacon Academy, designed byLord Foster of Thames Bank which opened in September 2007.[110]
Queen Katharine Academy (previously The Voyager School), which has specialist media arts status, replaced Bretton Woods and Walton Community School. It is part of the Thomas Deacon Education Trust. The schools that remain have been extended and enlarged. Over £200 million was spent and the changes on-going to 2010.[111]The King's School is one of seven schools established, or in some cases re-endowed and renamed, by KingHenry VIII during thedissolution of the monasteries to pray for his soul.[112] In 2006, 39.4% of Peterboroughlocal education authority pupils attained five grades A* to C, including English and Mathematics, in theGeneral Certificate of Secondary Education, lower than the national average of 45.8%.[113]
The city has two colleges offurther andhigher education,Peterborough College (established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College) andCity College Peterborough (known as Peterborough College of Adult Education until 2010). By 2004, Peterborough College attracted over 15,000 students each year from the UK and abroad and was ranked in the top five per cent of colleges in the UK.[114] Greater PeterboroughUniversity Technical College is a new education facility set to open in September 2015.[115]
In 2020, planning permission was granted for a new university campus, ARU Peterborough, which subsequently opened its doors in September 2022 on Bishops Road, a five-minute walk from the City Centre.[116] It is operated byAnglia Ruskin University with four faculties: Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Creative and Digital Arts and Sciences; Agriculture, Environment and Sustainability; Health and Education. The new campus took its first cohort of students in 2022, expecting to recruit up to 12,500 by 2028. ARU Peterborough is not expected to receive independent degree awarding powers before 2030, when a review is to take place to determine its future as part of Anglia Ruskin University or whether it should become an independent entity.[citation needed]
The former public library on Broadway was funded by Scottish philanthropistAndrew Carnegie and opened in 1906;[117] Carnegie was made first freeman of the city on the day of the opening ceremony.[118]
A section of theTriumph of Arts and Sciences at theRoyal Albert Hall (1867–1871), depicting Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough enjoys a wide range of events including the annualEast of England Show,Peterborough Festival andCAMRA beer festival, which takes place on the river embankment in late August.[119] The yearly festivals have attracted arts funding and enabled further community projects within the city.[120][55] Nationally published cartoonist John Elson,[121] from Peterborough, has provided imagery for many of the events.[120][122]
The city acts as the central hub for the region's visual arts community, with the Peterborough Artists Open Studio organisation (PAOS), celebrating its 21st anniversary year as of 2021.[123] A number of statues by the British sculptorAntony Gormley were re-installed in the city in 2018. Removed for repair works from their original setting on concrete pillars next to the rowing lake in Nene Park, they can now be seen on top of buildings surrounding Cathedral Square in the town centre.[124]
The Key Theatre, built in 1973, is situated on the embankment, next to theRiver Nene. The theatre aims to provide entertainment, enlightenment and education by reflecting the rich culture Peterborough has to offer. The programme is made up of home-grown productions, national touring shows, local community productions and one-off concerts. There is disabled access, an infrared hearing system for the deaf and hard of hearing and there are also regular signed performances.[125]
In 1937, theOdeon Cinema opened on Broadway, where it operated successfully for more than half a century. In 1991, the Odeon showed its last film to the public and was left to fall into a state of disrepair, until 1997, when a local entrepreneur purchased the building as part of a larger project, including a restaurant and art gallery. The Broadway, designed by Tim Foster Architects, was one of the largest theatres in the region and offered a selection of live entertainment, including music, comedy and films.[126] In 2009, it was severely damaged by arsonists, resulting in closure when its insurers refused to pay the claim due to faulty fire detection systems.[127]
TheEmbassy Theatre, a largeArt Deco building designed byDavid Evelyn Nye, also opened on Broadway in 1937. Nye was usually a cinema architect, and this was his only theatre. The Embassy was converted into a cinema in 1953, becoming theABC and later theCannon Cinema, before it was closed in 1989. Since 1996, the premises have been occupied by theEdwards bar chain.[128][129]
The John Clare Theatre within the new central library,[130] again on Broadway, is home to the Peterborough Film Society. One of the region's leading venues, the Cresset inBretton, provides a wide range of events for the residents of the city and beyond, including theatre, comedy, music and dance. Peterborough has a 13-screenShowcase Cinema, anice rink and two indoor swimming pools open to the general public.[citation needed]
Peterborough United Football Club, known as "The Posh", has been the local football team since 1934. They play their home matches atLondon Road on the south bank of the River Nene. Peterborough United have a history of cup giant-killings.[134] They set the record for the highest number of league goals (134,Terry Bly alone scoring 52) in the1960–61 season, when they won theFourth Division title in their first season in theFootball League. The club's highest finish position to date was 10th place inDivision One, then the second tier of English football, in the1992–93 season.[135] Irish property developerDarragh MacAnthony was appointed chairman in 2006 and is now owner, having undertaken a lengthy purchase fromBarry Fry who remains director of football, having also been manager of the club from 1996 to 2005. Peterborough also has a non-league club,Peterborough Sports, who play in theNational League North.
Peterborough City Rowing Club moved from its riverside setting to the current Thorpe Meadows location in 1983. The spring and summer regattas held there attract rowers and scullers from competing clubs all over the country. Every February the adjacent River Nene is host to the head of the river race, which again attracts hundreds of entries.[142] Peterborough Athletic Club train and compete at the embankment athletics arena. In 2006, after 10 years, theGreat Eastern Run returned to the racing calendar. Around 3,000 runners raced through the flat streets of Peterborough for the half-marathon, supported by thousands of spectators along the course.[143]
Peterborough Phantoms are the city's ice hockey team, playing in theNIHL at Planet Ice Peterborough, located on Mallard Way in Bretton.Motorcycle speedway is also a popular sport in Peterborough, with race meetings held at theEast of England Showground. The team, known as thePeterborough Panthers, have operated regularly in theElite League.[144] The Showground hosts the annual British Motorcycle Federation Rally each May. In 2009, Peterborough hosted one of the first rounds of theTour Series, a new series of televised town and city centre cycling races. As of 2015[update], the city has hosted a round of the Tour Series each year since, with the exception of 2013.[145][146]
In March 2017 the firstbandy session in England for over a century was held in Peterborough, in the form ofrink bandy.[147]In 2018 Peterborough Bandy Club was founded.[148] At the2022 Women's Bandy World Championship Great Britain made its debut in the tournament, represented by a Peterborough team.[149]
There is a major radiotransmitter atMorborne, approximately eight miles (13 km) west of Peterborough, for nationalFM radio (BBC Radios 1–4 andClassic FM) andBBC Radio Cambridgeshire which is theBBC Local Radio station that covers the city. This facility includes a 154-metre (505-foot) high guyed radio mast which collapsed in 2004 after a fire and has since been re-built.[150][151] Another transmission site atGunthorpe in the north east of the city transmitsAM/MW and local FM radio. The site is only 3 metres (9.8 feet)above sea level and has an 83-metre (272-foot) high active insulated guyed mast situated on it.
The national commercial multiplex,Digital One, is also available in the city.[152]
Peterborough is covered by six local radio stations and one regional station, though only two community stations broadcast from the city. These are Salaam FM, catering for the local Muslim population, which started broadcasting on 106.2 MHz in 2016[153] and Peterborough Community Radio (PCR FM), a station formed as a result of a merger between former internet stations Peterborough FM and Radio Peterborough, which started broadcasting on 103.2 MHz in 2017.[154]
Heart Cambridgeshire (nowHeart East), the originalindependent local radio station launched as Hereward Radio in 1980 and becomingHeart Peterborough in 2009,[155] still holds a large section of the market on 102.7 MHz but relocated to Cambridge in 2012,[156] where it began sharing the localised programming (of mainly national output) withHeart Cambridge.[157] Hereward's sister station,WGMS, was launched on the old 1332 kHz (225 meters) frequency in 1992; known asClassic Gold from 1994 to 2007, it is now part ofHeart's sisterGold Radio network, but has no programming made in Peterborough.Connect Radio (from 1999 to 2010, known as Lite FM), was the city's second commercial station on 106.8;MHz, but was sold and rebranded asSmooth East Midlands on 1 October 2019.
ThePeterborough Telegraph (established 1948) is the city's newspaper. TheTelegraph is owned byNational World Publishing Ltd. Its website, Peterborough Today, is updated six days a week. ThePT's sister paper, thePeterborough Citizen (1898), was a weekly paper delivered free to many homes in the city. ThePeterborough Herald and Post (1989, a replacement for thePeterborough Standard, established 1872) ceased publication in 2008.[158] The publisherEmap, which specialises in the production of magazines and the organisation of business events and conferences, traces its origins back to Peterborough in 1854.[159] The 33rd Mayor of Peterborough, SirRichard WinfreyJP, founder of what would become the East Midland Allied Press, was perhaps the last person to read theRiot Act in 1914.[160]
Peterborough has been used as a location for various television programmes and films. The 1982 BBC production ofThe Barchester Chronicles was filmed largely in and around Peterborough. In 1983 opening scenes for the 13thJames Bond film,Octopussy, starring SirRoger Moore, were filmed at Orton Mere. A music video for the song "BreakThru" by the bandQueen was also shot on the preservedNene Valley Railway in 1989. In 1995Pierce Brosnan filmed train crash sequences for the 17th Bond film,GoldenEye, at the former sugar beet factory. A scene for the filmThe Da Vinci Code was filmed at Burghley House during five weeks' secret filming in 2006; and actor,Lee Marvin, found himself camping in Ferry Meadows during the filming ofThe Dirty Dozen: Next Mission in 1985.[161] In October 2008 Hollywood returned to Wansford for the filming of the musicalNine, starringPenélope Cruz andDaniel Day-Lewis.[162]
Peterborough Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church ofSaint Peter,Saint Paul andSaint Andrew, whose statues look down from the three high gables of the West Front, was founded as amonastery in AD 655 and re-built in its present form between 1118 and 1238. It has been the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough since thediocese was created in 1541, when the last abbot was made the first bishop and the abbot's house was converted into the episcopal palace.[10] Peterborough Cathedral is one of the most intact largeNorman buildings in England and is renowned for its imposing earlyEnglish Gothic West Front which, with its three enormous arches, is withoutarchitectural precedent and with no direct successor. The cathedral has the distinction of having had two queens buried beneath its paving:Catherine of Aragon andMary, Queen of Scots. The remains of Queen Mary were removed toWestminster Abbey by her sonJames I when he became King of England.[16]
The general layout of Peterborough is attributed to Martin de Vecti who, as abbot from 1133 to 1155, rebuilt the settlement on dry limestone to the west of the monastery, rather than the often-flooded marshlands to the east. Abbot Martin was responsible for laying out the market place and the wharf beside the river. Peterborough's 17th-centuryGuildhall was built in 1671 by John Lovin, who also restored the bishop's palace shortly after therestoration of KingCharles II. It stands on columns, providing an open ground floor for the butter and poultry markets which used to be held there. The Market Place was renamed Cathedral Square and the adjacent Gates Memorial Fountain moved to Bishop's Road Gardens in 1963, when the (then weekly) market was transferred to the site of the old cattle market.[163]
Peterscourt on City Road was designed by SirGeorge Gilbert Scott in 1864, housing St. Peter's Teacher Training College for men until 1938. The building is mainly listed for the 18th century doorway, brought from theLondon Guildhall following war damage.[164] NearbyTout Hill, the site of a castle bailey, is ascheduled monument.[11] The city has a largeVictorian park containing formal gardens, children's play areas, an aviary, bowling green, tennis courts, pitch and putt course and tea rooms.The Park has been awarded theGreen Flag Award, the national standard for parks and green spaces, by theCivic Trust.[165] ACross of Sacrifice was erected in Broadway cemetery by theImperial War Graves Commission in the early 1920s.[166]The Lido, a striking building with elements ofart deco design, was opened in 1936 and is one of the few survivors of its type still in use.[167]
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, built in 1816, housed the city's first infirmary from 1857 to 1928. The museum has a collection of some 227,000 objects, including local archaeology and social history, from the products of the Roman pottery industry to Britain's oldest known murder victim; a collection of marine fossil remains from theJurassic period of international importance; the manuscripts ofJohn Clare, the "Northamptonshire Peasant Poet" as he was commonly known in his own time;[168] and the Norman Cross collection of items made by French prisoners of war. These prisoners were kept atNorman Cross on the outskirts of Peterborough from 1797 to 1814, in what is believed to be the world's first purpose-built prisoner of war camp. The art collection contains an impressive variety of paintings, prints and drawings dating from the 1600s to the present day. Peterborough Museum also holds regular temporary exhibitions, weekend events and guided tours.
TheJohn Clare Cottage in the village of Helpston was purchased by the John Clare Trust in 2005. The cottage, home of John Clare from his birth in 1793 until 1832, has been restored using traditional building methods to create a resource where visitors can learn about the poet, his works and how rural people lived in the early 19th century.[172] The John Clare Cottage and Thorney Heritage Museum form part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership, along with Peterborough Museum and Flag Fen.
Longthorpe Tower, a 14th-century three-storey tower and fortified manor house in the care ofEnglish Heritage, is situated about 2 mi (3.2 km) west of the city centre. It is a scheduled monument, and contains the finest and most complete set of domestic paintings of their period in northern Europe.[173] NearbyThorpe Hall is one of the few mansions built in theCommonwealth period. A maternity hospital from 1943 to 1970, it was acquired by theSue Ryder Foundation in 1986 and is currently in use as a hospice.[174]
Flag Fen, the Bronze Age archaeological site, was discovered in 1982, when a team led by DrFrancis Pryor carried out asurvey ofdykes in the area. Probably religious, it comprises a large number of poles arranged in five long rows, connectingWhittlesey with Peterborough across the wet fenland. The museum exhibits many of the artefacts found, including what is believed to be the oldest wheel in Britain. An exposed section of the Roman road known as theFen Causeway also crosses the site.[175]
TheNene Park, which opened in 1978, covers a site 3.5 mi (5.6 km) long, from slightly west of Castor to the centre of Peterborough. The park has three lakes, one of which houses a watersports centre. Ferry Meadows, one of the major destinations and attractions signposted on theGreen Wheel, occupies a large portion of Nene Park. Orton Mere provides access to the east of the park.[177]
Theutilitarian philosopher,DrRichard Cumberland, was 14th Lord Bishop of Peterborough from 1691 until his death in 1718;[183] and Norfolk-born nurse and humanitarian,Edith Cavell, who received part of her education at Laurel Court in the Minster Precinct, is commemorated by a plaque in the cathedral and by the name of the hospital.[184] A gravedigger called Old Scarlett, whose portrait can be seen above the west door of Peterborough Cathedral, is considered a folk hero. He died in 1594 at the age of 98, having spent much of his life as the sexton at Peterborough Cathedral; having buried two monarchs, he has also been suggested as the inspiration for the gravedigger in Shakespeare'sHamlet.[185] Two prominent historical figures were born locally,Hereward the Wake, an outlaw who led resistance to theNorman Conquest and now lends his name to several places and businesses in the city;[186] and St.John Payne, one of the group of prominent Catholicsmartyred between 1535 and 1679 and later designated theForty Martyrs of England and Wales, who wasbeatified byPope Leo XIII in 1886 andcanonised with the other 39 byPope Paul VI in 1970.[187]
According to theKöppen classification theBritish Isles experience amaritime climate characterised by relatively cool summers and mild winters. Compared with other parts of the country, East Anglia is slightly warmer and sunnier in the summer and colder and frostier in the winter. Owing to its inland position, furthest from the landfall of mostAtlantic depressions, Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the UK, receiving, on average, around 600 mm (2.0 ft) of rain per year.[215] The Met Office weather station atWittering, within the unitary authority of Peterborough, recorded a maximum temperature of 39.9 °C (103.8 °F) on 19 July 2022.[216] The lowest temperature in recent years was −13.4 °C (7.9 °F) during February 2012.[217]
Climate data forWittering,[a] elevation: 73 m (240 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1957–present
TheRiver Nene embankment, seen from Frank Perkins Parkway
East Anglia is most notable for being almost flat (it is mainly on a floodplain). During theIce Age much of the region was covered by ice sheets and this has influenced the topography and nature of the soils.[221] Much of Cambridgeshire is low-lying, in some places below present-day mean sea level.[222] The lowest point on land is supposedly just to the south of the city atHolme Fen, which is 2.75 metres (9.0 feet) below sea level. The largest of the many settlements along theFen edge, Peterborough has been called theGateway to the Fens.[223] Before they were drainedthe Fens were liable to periodic flooding soarable farming was limited to the higher areas of the Fen edge, with the rest of theFenland dedicated topastoral farming. In this way, the mediaeval and early modern Fens stood in contrast to the rest of southern England, which was primarily arable. Since the advent of modern drainage in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Fens have been radically transformed such that arable farming has almost entirely replaced pastoral.[224] The unitary authority extends north west to the settlements ofWothorpe andWittering and east beyondThorney into the historicIsle of Ely and includes theOrtons, south of the River Nene. It borders Northamptonshire to the west, Lincolnshire to the north, and the Cambridgeshire districts ofFenland andHuntingdonshire to the south and east. The city centre is located at 52°35'Nlatitude 0°15'Wlongitude orOrdnance Surveynational grid reference TL 185 998.
These are further arranged into 24 electoralwards for the purposes of local government.[225] 15 wards comprise the Peterborough constituency for elections to theHouse of Commons, while the remaining nine fall within the North West Cambridgeshire constituency.[226]
Peterborough lies in the middle of several distinct regional accent groups and as such has a hybrid of FenlandEast Anglian,East Midland and LondonEstuary English features. The city falls just north of the A vowelisogloss and as such most native speakers will use theflat A, as found incat, in words such aslast.Yod-dropping is often heard from Peterborians, as in the rest of East Anglia, for examplenew as/nuː/. However, the large number of newcomers has impacted greatly on theEnglish spoken by the younger generation. Common so-called Estuary English features such asL-vocalisation,T glottalisation andTh-fronting give today's Peterborough accent a definitesouth-eastern sound.[227]
Town twinning started in Europe after the Second World War. Its purpose was to promote friendship and greater understanding between the people of different European cities. A twinning link is a formal, long-term friendship agreement involving co-operation between two communities in different countries and endorsed by both local authorities. The two communities organise projects and activities addressing a range of issues and develop an understanding of historical, cultural, lifestyle similarities and differences. Peterborough is twinned with the following municipalities:[228]
Bourges andForlì are also twinned with each other. The city also has more informal friendship links withFoggia, Italy;Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe;Pécs, Hungary; and allPeterboroughs around the world.[232][233] The county of Cambridgeshire has been twinned withKreis Viersen, Germany since 1983.[234]
^Garmonsway (pp.183 & 198–99); Mellows, 1949 (p.66). As a modern local historian has put it, this was "a rhetorical term," used in these 12th century local histories "to contrast the riches of the late Anglo-Saxon monastery with the decrease in income caused by later impositions and the despoliation of the monastic treasure by Hereward," see Tebbs, Herbert F.Peterborough: A History (p.23) The Oleander Press, Cambridge, 1979.
^Originating in a new name for the abbey at Medeshamstede, and not the town, the nameBurh was adopted for the abbey in the late 10th century, see Garmonsway (p. 117), also Mellows, William Thomas (ed.)The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus a Monk of Peterborough (pp.38 & 480) Oxford University Press, 1949,OCLC314897451; the addition ofPeter, the name of the abbey's principal titular saint, parallels development of e.g. the nameBury St. Edmunds and will have served to distinguish between the two places. Exemplified in mediaeval records in theLatinised formBurgus Sancti Petri, this gave rise to the modern name Peterborough.
^Parthey, Gustav and Pinder, Moritz (eds.)Itinerarivm Antonini Avgvsti et Hierosolymitanum: ex libris manu scriptisIter BritanniarvmArchived 3 July 2011 at theWayback Machine (Iter V: Item a Londinio Luguvalio ad vallum mpm clvisic) Friederich Nicolaus, Berlin, 1848. See also Reynolds, ThomasIter Britanniarum or that part of the itinerary of Antoninus which relates to Britain with a new comment J. Burges, Cambridge, 1799.
^Fincham, Garrick (2004).Durobbrivae: A Roman Town Between Fen and Upland. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 102–08.ISBN0-7524-3337-7.
^abcdSamuel Lewis, ed. (1848)."Peterborough".A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research.Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved11 May 2013.
^Baker, Anne Pimlott "Perkins, Francis Arthur (1889–1967)"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48099.
^Gordon Bibble,Britanic's History Railway Buildings. An Oxford Gazetteer of Structures and Sites, (p.195), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003ISBN978-0198662471
^CCC 2020-based population forecasts, Peterborough, 2020–2041
^Enlarged to include former Gunthorpe CP, Longthorpe CP, Paston CP, Peterborough Without CP, Walton CP and Werrington CP from Peterborough RD in 1929.
^Because of the Second World War there was no census taken in 1941. However, following the passage into law (on 5 September) of theNational Registration Act 1939, a population count was carried out on 29 September which was, in effect, a census.
^Aggregate of Peterborough MB, Peterborough RD and Barnack RD for illustration from 1965.A vision of Britain through timeArchived 7 September 2008 at theWayback Machine presents long-run change by redistricting historical statistics to modern units.
^Enlarged to include former Peterborough RD, Barnack RD, Thorney RD, Old Fletton UD and Orton Longueville CP from Norman Cross RD in 1974.
^Hucklesby, John (2009).People of Peterborough: Famous, infamous and interesting people from the history of Peterborough. Peterborough: Peterborough Museum Publications. pp. 114–16.
^the moment MAGAZINE (23 May 2018)."Antony Gormley: looking up…".themomentmagazine.com.Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved18 October 2021.
^The Key Times is the theatre's newspaper, available free of charge from the last Saturday of each month.
^Managed on behalf of the council byVivacityArchived 2 February 2012 at theWayback Machine, an independent, not-for-profit organisation with charitable status; there are also nine branch libraries and a mobile library.
^Orange Broadband prize for Fiction 2005 shortlist titleA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (336 pp. Viking, London, 2005) Orange Home UK (Retrieved 26 January 2008).Archived 6 December 2007 at theWayback Machine
^Ness, Patrick"Pleasant incidents" (review ofA Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, 390 pp. Jonathan Cape, London, 2006),The Guardian, London and Manchester, 26 August 2006.
^Skinner, Julia (with particular reference to the work of Robert Cook)Did You Know? Peterborough: A Miscellany (pp.33, 25 & 16) The Francis Frith Collection, Salisbury, 2006.
^Grainger, MargaretA Descriptive Catalogue of the John Clare Collection Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, 1973.
^Leatham, VictoriaBurghley: The Life of a Great House The Herbert Press, London, 1992. See also Becker, Alida"This Old House"Archived 14 October 2007 at theWayback Machine (review ofLife at Burghley: Restoring One of England's Great Houses by the same author),The New York Times, 27 December 1992.
^Turner, RogerCapability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape (pp.110–112) Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 1999.
^Barkham, JohnReview ofBedford Purlieus: Its History, Ecology and Management by George Frederick Peterken and Robert Colin Welch (eds.) Journal of Biogeography, vol.3 no.3 (pp.322–323) September 1976.
^Mellows, William Thomas (ed.)The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus (p.41) Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archæological Society, 1941.
^Pearson, Mark"Teaching via the Internet"Archived 14 October 2007 at theWayback Machine,Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 7 October 2005 (facsimile of p.23 from the Brian J. Ford Website. Retrieved 24 April 2007).
Colpi, TerryThe Italian Factor: The Italian Community in Great Britain Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 1991 (ISBN1-85158-344-0).
Davies, Elizabeth et al.Peterborough: A Story of City and Country, People and Places Peterborough City Council and Pitkin Unichrome, 2001 (ISBN1-84165-050-1).
Garmonsway, George Norman (trans.)The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1972 & 1975 (ISBN0-460-87038-6).
Grainger, MargaretA Descriptive Catalogue of the John Clare Collection Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, 1973 (ISBN0-904108-00-7).
Hancock, Henry DrummondReport and Proposals for the East Midlands General Review Area (LGCE Report No.3) HMSO, London, 1961.
Hancock, Henry DrummondReport and Proposals for the Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area (LGCE Report No.9) HMSO, London, 1965.
Hancock, TomGreater Peterborough Master Plan Peterborough Development Corporation, 1971.
Ingram, James Henry (trans.)The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1823 (1847 Everyman's Library ed. with additional readings from the translation ofJohn Allen Giles).
King, Richard JohnHandbook to the Cathedrals of England John Murray, London, 1862.
Labrum, Edward A.Civil Engineering Heritage: Eastern and Central England Thomas Telford, London, 1994 (ISBN0-7277-1970-X).
Leatham, VictoriaBurghley: The Life of a Great House The Herbert Press, London, 1992 (ISBN1-871569-47-8).
Mellows, William Thomas (ed.)The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus a Monk of Peterborough, Oxford University Press, 1949 (scholarly ed. inLatin).
Mellows, William Thomas (ed.)The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus (trans.) Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archæological Society, 1941 (popular ed. in English).
Newton, DavidMen of Mark: Makers of East Midland Allied Press Emap, Peterborough, 1977 (ISBN0-9505954-0-3).
Parthey, Gustav and Pinder, Moritz (eds.)Itinerarivm Antonini Avgvsti et Hierosolymitanum: ex libris manu scriptis Friederich Nicolaus, Berlin, 1848.
Pryor, FrancisFlag Fen: Life and Death of a Prehistoric Landscape Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2005 (ISBN0-7524-2900-0).
Rhodes, JohnThe Nene Valley Railway Turntable Publications, Sheffield, 1976 (ISBN0-902844-60-1).
Salter, MikeThe Castles of East Anglia Folly Publications, Malvern, 2001 (ISBN1-871731-45-3).
Skinner, Julia (with particular reference to the work of Robert Cook)Did You Know? Peterborough: A Miscellany The Francis Frith Collection, Salisbury, 2006 (ISBN1-84589-263-1).
Sweeting, Walter DebenhamThe Cathedral Church of Peterborough: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See G. Bell & Sons, London, 1898 (1926 reprint of the 2nd ed. of Bell's Cathedrals).
Tebbs, Herbert F.Peterborough: A History The Oleander Press, Cambridge, 1979 (ISBN0-900891-30-0).
Turner, RogerCapability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 1999 (ISBN1-86077-114-9).
Youngs, Frederic A.Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England (2 vols.) The Offices of the Royal Historical Society, University College London, 1991 (ISBN0-86193-127-0).
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