cathedral city
Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom.
Cathedral city may also refer to:
* Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States
* Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese
* Cathedral City High Schoo ...
in
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
,
east of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
. It is the largest part of the
City of Peterborough
The City of Peterborough is a unitary authority district with city status in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The area is named after its largest settlement, Peterborough but also covers a wider area of outlying villages and ha ...
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
until 1974, when county boundary change meant the city became part of
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
instead. The city is north of London, on the
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
which flows into the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
to the north-east. In 2020 the built-up area subdivision had an estimated population of 179,349. In 2021 the Unitary Authority area had a population of 215,671.
The local topography is flat, and in some places, the land lies below sea level, for example in parts of the
Fens
A fen is a type of wetland.
Fen, Fenn, Fens, Fenns, may also refer to:
People
* Fen (name), a Chinese given name and surname
* Fen Cresswell (1915–1966), New Zealand cricketer
* Fen McDonald (1891–1915), Australian rules footballer
* Kees ...
to the east and to the south of Peterborough. Human settlement in the area began before the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, as can be seen at the
Flag Fen
Flag Fen, east of Peterborough, Pryor 2005. p. 9. England, is a Bronze Age site which was constructed about 3500 years ago and consists of more than 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows, creating a wooden causeway (around 1 km lo ...
archaeological site to the east of the current city centre, also with evidence of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
occupation. The
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
period saw the establishment of a monastery,
Medeshamstede
Medeshamstede was the name of Peterborough in the Anglo-Saxon period. It was the site of a monastery founded around the middle of the 7th century, which was an important feature in the kingdom of Mercia from the outset. Little is known of its ...
, which later became
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Church of England, Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Sain ...
.
The population grew rapidly after the railways arrived in the 19th century, and Peterborough became an industrial centre, particularly known for its brick manufacture. After the Second World War, growth was limited until designation as a
New Town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in the 1960s. Housing and population are expanding and a £1-billion regeneration of the city centre and immediately surrounding area is under way. Industrial employment has fallen since then, a significant proportion of new jobs being in financial services and distribution.
Toponym
The original name of the town was
Medeshamstede
Medeshamstede was the name of Peterborough in the Anglo-Saxon period. It was the site of a monastery founded around the middle of the 7th century, which was an important feature in the kingdom of Mercia from the outset. Little is known of its ...
. The town's name changed to ''Burgh'' from the late tenth century, possibly after Abbot Kenulf had built a
defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
around the abbey which was dedicated to
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
; eventually this developed into the form Peterborough. In the 12th century, the town was also known as ''Gildenburgh'', which is found in the Peterborough version of the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' (see Peterborough Chronicle below) and a history of the abbey by the monk
Hugh Candidus
Hugh Candidus (c. 1095 – c. 1160) was a monk of the Benedictine monastery at Peterborough, who wrote a Medieval Latin account of its history, from its foundation as Medeshamstede in the mid 7th century up to the mid 12th century. . ...
. The town does not appear to have been a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
until at least the 12th century.
History
Early history
Peterborough and its surrounding areas around have been inhabited for thousands of years because it is where permanently drained land in
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...
is created by the
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
. Remains of Iron Age settlement and what is thought to be religious activity can be seen at the
Flag Fen
Flag Fen, east of Peterborough, Pryor 2005. p. 9. England, is a Bronze Age site which was constructed about 3500 years ago and consists of more than 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows, creating a wooden causeway (around 1 km lo ...
archaeological site to the east of the city centre. The Romans established a fortified garrison town at Durobrivae on
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln (''Lindum Colonia'') and York (''Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas'', ...
, five miles (8 km) to the west in Water Newton, around the middle of the 1st century AD. Durobrivae's earliest appearance among surviving records is in the
Antonine Itinerary
The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...
of the late 2nd century. There was also a large 1st century
Roman fort
In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term.
In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
at
Longthorpe
Longthorpe is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the unparished area of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. Located west from the city centre, the area covers . For electoral purp ...
, designed to house half a
legion
Legion may refer to:
Military
* Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army
* Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army
* Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
, or about 3,000 soldiers; it may have been established as early as around AD 44–48. Peterborough was an important area of ceramic production in the Roman period, providing Nene Valley Ware that was traded as far away as Cornwall and the
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twe ...
, Caledonia.
Peterborough is shown by its original name Medeshamstede to have possibly been an Anglian settlement before AD 655, when
Sexwulf
Seaxwulf (before 676 – c. 692) was the founding abbot of the Mercian monastery of Medeshamstede, and an early medieval bishop of Mercia. Very little is known of him beyond these details, drawn from sources such as Bede's ''Ecclesiastical ...
founded a monastery on land granted to him for that purpose by
Peada of Mercia
Peada (died 656), a son of Penda, was briefly King of southern Mercia after his father's death in November 655The year could be pushed back to 654 if a revised interpretation of Bede's dates is used. and until his own death in the spring of the n ...
, who converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and was briefly ruler of the smaller
Middle Angles
The Middle Angles were an important ethnic or cultural group within the larger kingdom of Mercia in England in the Anglo-Saxon period.
Origins and territory
It is likely that Angles broke into the Midlands from East Anglia and the Wash early i ...
sub-group. His brother
Wulfhere
Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...
murdered his own sons, similarly converted and then finished the monastery by way of
atonement
Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ex ...
.
Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...
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.
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
The
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
church was rebuilt and greatly enlarged in the 12th century.Tim Tatton-Brown and John Crook, ''The English Cathedral'', New Holland (2002) The
Peterborough Chronicle
The ''Peterborough Chronicle'' (also called the Laud manuscript and the E manuscript) is a version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'' originally maintained by the monks of Peterborough Abbey in Cambridgeshire. It contains unique information abo ...
, a version of the Anglo-Saxon one, contains unique information about the
history of England
England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February ...
after the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
, written here by monks in the 12th century. This is the only known prose history in English between the conquest and the later 14th century. The burgesses received their first charter from "Abbot Robert" – probably Robert of Sutton (1262–1273).Chisholm, Hugh (ed.) ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'' (11th ed.) vol.21 Cambridge University Press, 1911 (text in the public domain). The place suffered materially in the war between King John and the confederate barons, many of whom took refuge in the monastery here and in
Crowland Abbey
Crowland Abbey (also spelled Croyland Abbey, Latin: ''Croilandia'') is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
A ...
, from which sanctuaries they were forced by the king's soldiers, who plundered the religious houses and carried off great treasures. The abbey church became one of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
's retained, more secular, cathedrals in 1541, having been assessed at the Dissolution (in the King's Books) as having revenue of £1,972.7s.0¾d per annum.
When
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
broke out, Peterborough was divided between supporters of King Charles I and the
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
. The city lay on the border of the
Eastern Association
The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian mi ...
of counties which sided with Parliament, and the war reached Peterborough in 1643 when soldiers arrived in the city to attack Royalist strongholds at Stamford and
Crowland
Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...
. The Royalist forces were defeated within a few weeks and retreated to
Burghley House
Burghley House () is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family. The exterior largely retains its Elizabet ...
, where they were captured and sent to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. While the Parliamentary soldiers were in Peterborough, however, they ransacked the cathedral, destroying the
Lady Chapel
A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...
,
chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...
,
cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
, high altar and choir stalls, as well as mediaeval decoration and records.
Housing and sanitary improvements were effected under the provisions of an Act of Parliament passed in 1790; and an Act was passed in 1839 to build a gaol to replace the two that previously stood. After the dissolution the
dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
as
lords of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...
, appointed a high
bailiff
A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...
and the
constables
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
and other borough officers were elected at their
court leet
The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts.
Etym ...
; but this ended when the
municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
was incorporated in 1874 under the government of a mayor, six
aldermen
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
and eighteen
councillors
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
. Among the privileges claimed by the abbot as early as the 13th century was that of having a prison for felons taken in the
Soke of Peterborough
The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and compr ...
. In 1576 Bishop
Edmund Scambler
Edmund Scambler (c. 1520 – 7 May 1594) was an English bishop.
Life
He was born at Gressingham, and was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, Queens' College, Cambridge and Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1542.
Under Mary I of Engl ...
sold the
lordship
A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of econ ...
of the hundred of ''Nassaburgh'', which was coextensive with the Soke, to
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, who gave it to
Lord Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
, and from that time until the 19th century he and his descendants, the Earls and Marquesses of Exeter, had a separate gaol for prisoners arrested in the Soke. 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 the
corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...
in 1876. The Bridge Fair, as it is now known, granted to the abbey by
King Henry VI
Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne a ...
, survives. 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 the
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
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".
Modern history
Railway lines began operating locally during the 1840s, but it was the 1850 opening of the Great Northern Railway's line from London to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
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 and
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, increasingly developed as a regional hub.
Coupled with vast local clay deposits, the railway enabled large-scale brick-making 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 at
Fletton
Fletton is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England, south of the River Nene.
Notable for its large brickworks, the area has given its name to "Fletton bricks",
Admin ...
using the harder clays from a lower level had resulted in a much more efficient process. The market dominance during this period of the
London Brick Company
The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a leading British manufacturer of bricks.
History
The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in London and Peterborough. In 1889, H ...
, founded by the prolific Scottish builder and architect
John Cathles Hill
John Cathles Hill (1857 – 5 April 1915) was an architect and property developer who was influential in the development of parts of suburban north London.
Early life
John C. HillPress coverage of Hill during his lifetime almost never referre ...
, gave rise to some of the country's most well-known landmarks, all built using the ubiquitous Fletton Brick.
Perkins Engines
Perkins Engines Company Limited, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc since 1998, is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural, construction, material handling, power generation, and industrial. It was establis ...
was established in Peterborough in 1932 by Frank Perkins, creator of the Perkins diesel engine. Thirty years later it employed more than a tenth of the population of Peterborough, mainly at Eastfield.
Baker Perkins
Baker Perkins Ltd is a British engineering company for food processing equipment headquartered in Peterborough, England. Its product portfolio offers different technologies and applications for the bread, biscuit, confectionery, snack, and break ...
had relocated from London to Westwood, now the site of
HM Prison Peterborough
HM Prison Peterborough is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B private prison for men, and a closed prison for women and female young offenders, located in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The prison is operated b ...
, in 1903, followed by
Peter Brotherhood
Peter Brotherhood (1838–1902) was a British engineer. He invented the Brotherhood engine used for torpedoes as well as many other engineering products.
With his son he built a large engineering business in London bearing his name, Peter Brother ...
to
Walton Walton may refer to:
People
* Walton (given name)
* Walton (surname)
* Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer
Places
Canada
* Walton, Nova Scotia, a community
** Walton River (Nova Scotia)
*Walton, Ontario, a hamlet
United Kingdo ...
in 1906; both manufacturers of industrial machinery, they too became major employers in the city.
British Sugar
British Sugar plc is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and the sole British producer of sugar from sugar beet, as well as medicinal cannabis.
British Sugar processes all sugar beet grown in the United Kingdom, and produces about two-t ...
has moved its headquarters to
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
* Hampton, Victoria
Canada
* Hampton, New Brunswick
*Ha ...
beet sugar
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wit ...
factory, which opened there in 1926, was closed in 1991.
The Norwich 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 the Yorkshire Group in 2011. N&P continued to operate under its own brand administered at Lynch Wood until 2018. Prior to merger with the Midlands Co-op in 2013,
Anglia Regional
Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited was the fifth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the merger of the Greater Peterborough Regional and Anglia (formerly Waveney) co-operative societies in 1987. The S ...
, the UK's fifth largest co-operative society, was also based in Peterborough, where it was established in 1876. The combined society began trading as
Central England Co-operative
Central England Co-operative, trading as Central Co-op, is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, based in Lichfield and which trades from over 400 sites across the English Midlands and East Anglia. The business is owned and de ...
in 2014.
Designated a
New Town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in 1967,
Peterborough Development Corporation
The Peterborough Development Corporation was established in February 1968, as a national government initiative, following the city's designation as a third-wave New Town in July 1967. It was based in the Gilbert Scott designed Peterscourt in t ...
was formed in partnership with the city and county councils to house London's
overspill
In nonstandard analysis, a branch of mathematics, overspill (referred to as ''overflow'' by Goldblatt (1998, p. 129)) is a widely used proof technique. It is based on the fact that the set of standard natural numbers N is not an internal su ...
population in new
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
sited around the existing urban area. There were to be four townships, one each at Bretton (originally to be called Milton, a hamlet in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
),
Orton Orton may refer to:
Places England
* Orton, Eden, Cumbria, a village and civil parish
* Orton, Carlisle, Cumbria, a parish
* Orton, Northamptonshire, a village and civil parish
*Orton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
* Orton, Staffordshire, a hamlet
...
, Paston/ Werrington and Castor. The last of these was never built, but a fourth, called
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
* Hampton, Victoria
Canada
* Hampton, New Brunswick
*Ha ...
, 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 and Queensgate, containing over 90 stores and including parking for 2,300 cars, was opened by Queen
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...
in 1982. 34 miles (55 km) of urban roads were planned and a network of high-speed landscaped thoroughfares, known as
parkway
A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...
s, was constructed.
Peterborough's population grew by 45.4% between 1971 and 1991. New service-sector companies like
Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was also one of the initial developers of the "package tour" including travel, accommodation ...
and
Pearl Assurance
Phoenix Group Holdings plc (formerly Pearl Group plc) is a provider of insurance services based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
The company was founded in 1857 a ...
were attracted to the city, ending the dominance of the manufacturing industry as employers. An urban regeneration company named Opportunity Peterborough, under the chairmanship of Lord Mawhinney, was set up by the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...
in 2005 to oversee Peterborough's future development. 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, where
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
English Partnerships
English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...
, February 2005. Whilst recognising that the reconfiguration of the relationship between the city and station was critical,
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
found the current plans for Westgate unconvincing and felt more thought should be given to the vitality of the historic core.
With the city expanding, in July 2005 the council adopted a new statutory development plan. Its aim is to accommodate an additional 22,000 homes, 18,000 jobs and over 40,000 people living in Peterborough by 2020. The newly developing
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
* Hampton, Victoria
Canada
* Hampton, New Brunswick
*Ha ...
township will be completed, there will be a 1,500-home development at Stanground and a further 1,200-home development at Paston.
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 for
Peterborough City Council
Peterborough City Council is the local authority for Peterborough in the East of England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The City was incorporated as a municipal borough ...
with other projects within the development to include a
Hilton Garden Inn
Hilton Garden Inn is an American chain of mid-priced, limited or focused service hotels owned by Hilton Worldwide. As of December 31, 2019, it has 862 properties with 126,086 rooms in 49 countries and territories, including 81 that are manage ...
hotel with a sky bar, a new passport office and various leisure, restaurant and retail opportunities. Other projects within the city include the extension to Queensgate Shopping Centre, The Great Northern Hotel and more recently plans to extend the
Peterborough Railway Station
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. It is down the East Coast Main Line from . The station is a major interchange serving both the north–south ECML, as well as long-distance and local e ...
and long stay car park to facilitate more office space in the city centre and further parking.
In 2020 planning permission was granted for a new university, ARU Peterborough, which will be based on Bishops Road, a five-minute walk from the City Centre. It will be an employment focused university run by
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...
with four faculties: Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Creative and Digital Arts and Sciences; Agriculture, Environment and Sustainability; Health and Education. The new university is expected to take its first cohort of approximately 2,000 students by 2022, rising to 12,500 by 2028. ARU Peterborough is not expected to receive its degree awarding powers before 2030 when a review will take place to determine its future as part of Anglia Ruskin University or whether it should become its own entity.
Economy
Regeneration
According to the City Council, Peterborough has a history of successful economic growth and continues to act as an attractor for investment and an engine of growth. Its ambition is to achieve sustainable growth that can be maintained without creating significant economic problems.
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. It has a strong economy in the environmental goods and services sector and has the largest cluster of environmental businesses in the UK.
In 1994, Peterborough designated itself one of four environment cities in the UK and began working to become the country's acknowledged environment capital. 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. 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. 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 secretary
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...
. During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
of 2020-21 Peterborough's culture and leisure umbrella charity, ''Vivacity'' ceased operating. This led to a restructuring of many of the arts organisations; they are now found under the heading City Culture Peterborough.
The council and regional development agency have taken advice on regeneration issues from a number of internationally recognised experts, including
Benjamin Barber
Benjamin R. Barber (August 2, 1939 – April 24, 2017) was an American political theorist and author, perhaps best known for his 1995 bestseller, ''Jihad vs. McWorld'', and for 2013's ''If Mayors Ruled the World''. His 1984 book of political t ...
(formerly an adviser to President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
), Jan Gustav Strandenaes (
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
adviser on environmental issues) and Patama Roorakwit (a Thai "community architect").
Employment
According to the 2001 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. Earnings in Peterborough are lower than average.
Median
In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
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 for
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
as a whole. As part of the government's
M11 corridor
The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the A406 road, North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14 road (Great Britain), A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans ...
, Peterborough is committed to creating 17,500 jobs with the population growing to 200,000 by 2020.
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. 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 both
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
(1,070 employees) and
Debenhams
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...
(850 employees) distribution centres. 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.
With traditionally low levels of unemployment, Peterborough is a popular destination for workers and has seen significant growth through migration since the post-war period. The leader of the council said in August 2006 that he believed that 80% of the 65,000 people who had arrived in
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
from the states that joined the European Union in 2004 were living in Peterborough. To help cope with this influx, the council put forward plans to construct an average of 1,300 homes each year until 2021. Demand for short term employees remains high and the market supports up to 20 high street recruitment agencies at any given time. Peterborough Trades Council, formed in 1898, is affiliated to the
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre
A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...
.
Transport
Rail
Peterborough railway station
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. It is down the East Coast Main Line from . The station is a major interchange serving both the north–south ECML, as well as long-distance and local e ...
is a principal stop on the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
, 45–50 minutes' journey time from central London, with high-speed intercity services from King's Cross to
Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...
operated by the
London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four ...
at around a 20-minute frequency. It is the northern terminus of slower commuter services from Horsham via Gatwick Airport and central London operated by
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) rail franchise in England. Within the franchise, GTR runs the Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern (Govia Thameslin ...
.
It is a major railway junction where a number of cross-country routes converge:
•
East Midlands Railway
Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
History
In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...
operates through services between
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
,
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
and
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
that call at Peterborough, as well as trains on the line to
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
.
•
CrossCountry
CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise.
The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...
provides connections west to
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, and east to
Ely Ely or ELY may refer to:
Places Ireland
* Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely
* Ely Place, Dublin, a street
United Kingdom
* Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England
** Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formal ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
via
Soham
Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census.
History Archaeology
The region between Dev ...
.
Water
The
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
, made navigable from the port at
Wisbech
Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...
to
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
by 1761, passes through the city centre. The
Nene Viaduct
The Nene Viaduct is a railway bridge immediately south of Peterborough railway station in Cambridgeshire, Eastern England. It was built to carry the Great Northern Railway across the River Nene. It is a Grade II* listed building.
History and de ...
carries the railway over the river. It was built in 1847 by Sir
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and
Joseph Cubitt
Joseph Cubitt (24 November 1811 – 7 December 1872) was an English civil engineer. Amongst other projects, he designed the Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the River Thames in London.
Early life
Cubitt was born in Horning, Norfolk, on 24 Nove ...
. 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. 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. The
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
navigation starts at the junction with the Northampton arm of the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
and extends for 91 miles (147 km) ending at Bevis Hall just upstream of Wisbech. The tidal limit used to be Woodston Wharf until the Dog-in-a-Doublet
lock
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
European route E15
The European route E15 is part of the United Nations international E-road network. It is a north-south "reference road", running from Inverness, Scotland south through England and France to Algeciras, Spain.Great North Road from
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
in the heart of London, passing Peterborough (Junction 17), and continuing north a further 335 miles (539 km) to central
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. In 1899 the
British Electric Traction Company
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rento ...
sought permission for a tramway joining the northern suburbs with the city centre. The system, which operated under the name Peterborough Electric Traction Company, opened in 1903 and was abandoned in favour of motor buses in 1930, when it was merged into the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company. Today, bus services in the city are operated by several companies including
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
. 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. The
Local Transport Plan
{{Unreferenced, date=April 2008
Local transport plans, divided into full local transport plans (LTP) and local implementation plans for transport (LIP) are an important part of transport planning in England. Strategic transport authorities (count ...
anticipated expenditure totalling around £180 million for the period up to 2010 on major road schemes to accommodate development.
The combination of rail connections to the
Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a han ...
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 rail-road logistics and distribution centre to be known as ''Magna Park''.
Green Wheel and City Cycling
The Peterborough Millennium
Green Wheel
Peterborough Green Wheel
The Peterborough Millennium Green Wheel is an network of cycleways, footpaths and bridleways. Designed as part of a sustainable transport system for the city, it was created as part of a Millennium project around Peter ...
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. Another long-distance footpath, the
Hereward Way
The Hereward Way is a long-distance footpath in England that links the Viking Way at Oakham with the Peddars Way at Knettishall Heath, near Thetford.
The path takes its name from Hereward the Wake, the 11th-century rebel leader who fought again ...
, runs from
Oakham
Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...
in Rutland, through Peterborough, to
East Harling
East Harling is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village forms the principal settlement in the civil parish of Harling, and is located east of Thetford and south-west of the city of NorwichOrdnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer M ...
in Norfolk. 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.
Demography
Population
The City of Peterborough local authority area has a population of (). It is forecast to reach 230,000 in 2031 and 240,000 by around 2041.
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.
Ethnicity
According to the 2011 Census, 82.5% of Peterborough's residents categorised themselves as
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 2.3 per cent
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
and 0.8% other. Amongst the white population, the largest categories were indigenous groups, those being English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British (70.9%), and
other white
The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, S ...
(10.6%). Those of Pakistani ethnicity accounted for 6.6% of the population and those of
Indian ethnicity
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
2.5.%. The largest black group were those of African ethnicity (1.4%).
Peterborough is home to one of the largest concentrations of
Italian immigrants
The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy.
There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended in the ...
in the UK. This is mainly as a result of
labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
recruitment in the 1950s by the London Brick Company in the southern Italian regions of
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
. By 1960, approximately 3,000 Italian men were employed by London Brick, mostly at the
Fletton
Fletton is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England, south of the River Nene.
Notable for its large brickworks, the area has given its name to "Fletton bricks",
Admin ...
works. In 1962, the Scalabrini Fathers, who first arrived in 1956, purchased an old school and converted it into a mission church named after the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of workers
Saint Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...
(San Giuseppe). By 1991, over 3,000 christenings of second-generation Italians had been carried out there. In 1996, it was estimated that the Italian community of Peterborough numbered 7,000, making it the third largest in the UK after London and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
. The 2011 Census recorded 1,179 residents born in Italy.
In the late twentieth century the main source of immigration was from new
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
countries. 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 the
A8 countries
The largest expansion of the European Union (EU), in terms of territory, number of states, and population took place on 1 May 2004.
The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" 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.
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 in
drink-driving
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, alcohol is invo ...
offences, knife crime and an international dimension added to activities such as running
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
factories and
human trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
. 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". In 2007,
Julie Spence
Julie Spence, is a retired British police officer and activist. She served as the Chief Constable for Cambridgeshire Constabulary from 10 December 2005 to 5 September 2010, and made headline news over demanding fairer funding due to the rise in ...
, the then Chief 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, had had a positive impact on jobs and economic development. In 2008, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast ''The Poles are Coming!'', a controversial documentary on the impact of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
migration to Peterborough by
Tim Samuels
Timothy David Samuels (born 3 October 1975) is an English documentary filmmaker, author and broadcaster. His work is characterised by approaching serious topics in provocative and entertaining ways to produce hard-hitting documentaries. Samuels f ...
, as part of its ''White Season''.
The number of languages in use is growing where previously few languages other than English were spoken. , Peterborough offered classes in Italian,
Christianity has the largest following in Peterborough, in particular the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, with a significant number of parish churches and a cathedral. 56.7% of Peterborough's residents classified themselves as Christian in the 2011 Census. Recent immigration to the city has also seen the Roman Catholic population increase substantially. Other denominations 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. In comparison with the rest of England, Peterborough has a lower proportion of Christians,
Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
,
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Sikhs
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
. The city has a higher percentage of
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
than England as a whole (9.4% compared to 5% nationally). The majority of Muslims reside in the
Millfield
Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935.
Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
areas of the city, where two large mosques (including the Faidhan-e-Madina Mosque and Husaini Islamic Center-Peterborough) are based. Peterborough also has both Hindu (Bharat Hindu Samaj) and Sikh (Singh Sabha Gurdwara) temples in these areas.
The
Anglican Diocese of Peterborough
Anglicanism is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Euro ...
covers roughly 1,200 square miles (3,100 km2), including the whole of Northamptonshire, Rutland and the Soke of Peterborough. The parts of the city that lie south of the river, which were historically in
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...
, fall within the
Diocese of Ely
The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now co ...
, which covers the remainder of Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk. The current Bishop of Peterborough has been appointed
Assistant Bishop
An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.
Church of England
In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...
in the Diocese of Ely, with pastoral care for these
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
delegated to him by the
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...
. The city falls wholly within the Roman Catholic
Diocese of East Anglia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church covering the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Peterborough in eastern England. The diocese makes up part of the Catholic As ...
(which has its seat at the
Cathedral Church
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral ...
of Saint
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
Community of Saint Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem was established in 1991 under the
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain is an archdiocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church, part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its present head is Archbishop Nikitas Loulias. Its jurisdiction covers those Orthodox Chri ...
.
Culture
Education
Peterborough has one independent boarding school:
The Peterborough School
The Peterborough School, formerly Peterborough High School, is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school located in Peterborough, England. Founded as a day school for girls (with girl boarders until July 2013), it is now a coedu ...
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 immense change. Five of the city's 15 secondary schools were closed in July 2007, to be demolished over the coming years.
John Mansfield John Mansfield may refer to:
*John Mansfield (Beverley MP), member for Beverley (UK Parliament constituency) in 1593
* John Mansfield (American politician) (1822–1896), American soldier and politician
* John Mansfield (English politician) (1889 ...
(now an adult learning centre), Hereward (formerly Eastholm, now City of Peterborough Academy, sponsored by the Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust) and Deacon's were replaced with the flagship
Thomas Deacon Academy
The Thomas Deacon Academy is a mixed gender academy complex in the north of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, comprising the Thomas Deacon Academy Secondary School and sixth form and The Junior Academy for Key Stage 2 students.
Thomas Deacon Acade ...
Queen Katharine Academy
The Queen Katharine Academy (formerly The Voyager Academy and The Voyager School) is a secondary school with academy status in Peterborough in the United Kingdom. The school was formed in 2007 by the amalgamation of Walton Community School and ...
(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. The King's School is one of seven schools established, or in some cases re-endowed and renamed, by King
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
local education authority
Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
pupils attained five grades A* to C, including English and Mathematics, in the
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
, lower than the national average of 45.8%.
The city has two colleges of
further
Further or Furthur may refer to:
* ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus
* Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band
* Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh
* ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers a ...
and
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
,
Peterborough College
Peterborough College, established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College, is a major further education college in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
History
Engineering firms Peter Brotherhood and Baker Perkins relocated to Pete ...
(established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College) and
City College Peterborough
City College Peterborough is an adult and community learning college in the city of Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority ...
(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. Greater Peterborough
University Technical College
A university technical college (UTC) is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is led by a sponsor university and has close ties to local business and industry. These university and industry partners support the curriculum developm ...
is a new education facility set to open in September 2015.
The city is currently without a university, after
Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
closed its Peterborough campus in 2003. Consequently, it became the second largest centre of population in the UK (after
Swindon
Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
) without its own higher education institution. In 2006, however, Peterborough Regional College began talks with
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...
to develop a new university campus for the city. The college and the university completed the legal contracts for the creation of a new joint venture company in 2007, marking the culmination of legal negotiations and securing of funds required in order to build the new higher education centre.
University Centre Peterborough
University Centre Peterborough is a small higher education institution with campuses in Peterborough and Stamford, Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. It is formally part of the Inspire Education Group. Degrees at the Peterborough Campus are accr ...
opened to the first 850 students in 2009.
The former public library on Broadway was funded by Scottish philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
and opened in 1906; Carnegie was made first freeman of the city on the day of the opening ceremony.
Arts
Peterborough enjoys a wide range of events including the annual
East of England Show
The East of England Agricultural Society is an agricultural society in the east of England. The Society which is a registered charity owns the land known as the East of England Showground in Peterborough, England.
History
The Society was form ...
,
Peterborough Festival
The Peterborough Festival is held annually in the UK city of Peterborough. The festival takes place over a two-week period, usually the last week of June and the first week of July.
The first set of events of the festival take place at the emba ...
and
CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...
beer festival, which takes place on the river embankment in late August. The yearly festivals have attracted arts funding and enabled further community projects within the city. Nationally published cartoonist John Elson, from Peterborough, has provided imagery for many of the events. The city acts as the central hub for the regions visual arts community, with the Peterborough Artists Open Studio organisation PAOS , celebrating its 21st anniversary year as of 2021. A number of statues by the British sculptor
Antony Gormley
Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...
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.
The Key Theatre, built in 1973, is situated on the embankment, next to the
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
. 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.
In 1937, the
Odeon Cinema
Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...
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. 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. The Embassy Theatre, a large
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
building designed by
David Evelyn Nye
David Evelyn Nye MBE was a British architect, born in 1906, who practised in Surrey, England. He was best known as a cinema architect, having designed many picture houses in the 1930s for the Shipman and King cinema circuit. He was a committ ...
, 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 the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
and later the Cannon Cinema, before it was closed in 1989. Since 1996, the premises have been occupied by the Edwards bar chain.
The John Clare Theatre within the new central library, again on Broadway, is home to the Peterborough Film Society. One of the region's leading venues, the Cresset in Bretton, provides a wide range of events for the residents of the city and beyond, including theatre, comedy, music and dance. Peterborough has a 13-screen
Showcase Cinema
Showcase Cinemas is a movie theater chain owned and operated by National Amusements. It operates in a total of four countries: the United States (flagship), Brazil, the United Kingdom and Argentina.
Locations
Showcase operates more than 950 ...
, an
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
and two indoor swimming pools open to the general public. A diverse range of restaurants can be found throughout the city, including
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
&
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
,
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
and many
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
restaurants. Peterborough has recently been used as the setting in popular literature: ''
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
''A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian'' is a humorous novel by Marina Lewycka, first published in 2005 by Viking (Penguin Books).
The novel won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize at the Hay literary festival, the Waverton Good Read Awa ...
'' by
Marina Lewycka
Marina Lewycka ( ; born 12 October 1946) is a British novelist of Ukrainian origin.
Early life
Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England; she now lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire ...
, ''
A Spot of Bother
''A Spot of Bother'' is the second adult novel by Mark Haddon, who is best known for his prize-winning first novel ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''. Like ''Curious Incident'', ''A Spot of Bother'' examines mental health iss ...
'' by
Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon (born 28 October 1962) is an English novelist, best known for ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Wr ...
and, the first in a projected series, ''Long Way Home'', a debut novel by Eva Doran.
Sport
Peterborough United Football Club
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...
, known as ''The Posh'', has been the local football team since 1934. The ground is situated at London Road on the south bank of the River Nene. Peterborough United have a history of cup giant-killings. They set the record for the highest number of league goals (134,
Terry Bly
Terence Geoffrey Bly (22 October 1935 – 24 September 2009) was an English football striker.
Career
He was renowned for his goalscoring prowess, most notably for Norwich City and Peterborough United, scoring a record 54 goals in the latter' ...
alone scoring 52) in the 1960-61 season, which was their first season in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
, in which they won the Fourth Division title. The club's highest finish position to date was tenth place in
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
, then the second tier of English football, in the 1992-93 season. Irish property developer
Darragh MacAnthony
Darragh MacAnthony (born 24 March 1976) is an Irish football chairman, author and entrepreneur.
Early life and education
MacAnthony, the son of Austin MacAnthony, a nightclub owner, MacAnthony was educated at St Mary's College, Dublin. He moved ...
was appointed chairman in 2006 and is now owner, having undertaken a lengthy purchase from
Barry Fry
Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A winger, Fry was an apprentice at Manchester United in his youth, and had brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he reti ...
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 the
National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
.
As well as
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, Peterborough has teams competing in
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
,
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
,
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
,
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
, athletics,
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
and
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
. Although
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
is not a first-class cricket county,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
staged some home matches in the city between 1906 and 1974.
Peterborough Town Cricket Club
Peterborough Town Cricket Club is part of City of Peterborough Sports Club based at Dalrod Sports Ground, Bretton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. Peterborough Town have two senior Saturday XI teams in the Northamptonshire Cricket League ...
and the City of Peterborough Hockey Club compete at their shared ground in Westwood.
After reforming in 2005, rugby union club Peterborough Lions RFC now compete in
National League 3 Midlands
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
. Meanwhile, the city's oldest rugby team,
Peterborough RUFC
Peterborough Rugby Club is an English rugby union team based in the city of Peterborough. The club runs two senior men's sides, an under-18 team, a senior ladies' team an under-18 girls' team and a full set of junior teams including under 16, 14 ...
, play at Second Drove (otherwise known as "Fortress Fengate"), and have struggled in recent seasons. Relegation in 2013–14 season, from
Midlands 1 East
Regional 2 East Midlands is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and occasion ...
, has been followed by a season in the lower-mid table of the
Midlands 2 East (South)
Midlands 2 East (South) is a level 7 English Rugby Union league and level 2 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the East Midlands region including sides from Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and occ ...
.
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. Peterborough Athletic Club train and compete at the embankment athletics arena. In 2006, after 10 years, the
Great Eastern Run
The Perkins Great Eastern Run is a running event that takes place every year in Peterborough, United Kingdom, generally in mid-October. The event returned in 2006 after a 10-year absence and is rapidly gaining popularity. Currently, there are th ...
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.
Peterborough Phantoms
The Peterborough Phantoms are a British ice hockey team that play at the Planet Ice Peterborough Arena, in Bretton, Peterborough. The Peterborough Phantoms ice hockey club was founded in 2002. It replaced the former city based team, the Pet ...
are the city's ice hockey team, playing in the NIHL at Planet Ice Peterborough, located on Mallard Way in Bretton.
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...
is also a popular sport in Peterborough, with race meetings held at the
East of England Showground
The East of England Showground is a large showground area (667,731sqm) located on East of England Way in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Showground is owned by Bellway as of around 2019 and the site currently includes the East of Engla ...
. The team, known as the
Peterborough Panthers
The Peterborough Panthers are a British speedway team based in Peterborough, England. They are three times champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest level league in 1999, 2006 and 2021.
History 1970–1994
The Panthers inaugural sea ...
, have operated regularly in the Elite League. The Showground hosts the annual British Motorcycle Federation Rally each May. In 2009, Peterborough hosted one of the first rounds of the
Tour Series
The Tour Series is an annual series of cycling criterium races held in the United Kingdom since 2009. It is televised by ITV4 in the UK. The competition emphasises team effort with individual wins deemed less important.
The races are held over 1 ...
, a new series of televised town and city centre cycling races. , the city has hosted a round of the Tour Series each year since, with the exception of 2013.
In March 2017 the first
bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
session in England for over a century was held in Peterborough, in the form of
rink bandy
Rink bandy is a variant of the larger sport of bandy. Unlike bandy which is played on a large bandy field, rink bandy is played on significantly smaller ice hockey sized ice rinks.
While a bandy field is about the same size as a football pitch, ...
.
In 2018 Peterborough Bandy Club was founded. At the 2022 Women's Bandy World Championship Great Britain made its debut in the tournament, represented by a Peterborough team.
Media
There is a major radio
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
at
Morborne
Morborne is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Morborne lies approximately south-west of Peterborough, near Yaxley. Morborne is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well a ...
, approximately eight miles (13 km) west of Peterborough, for national
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
(
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cambridgeshire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the Cambridge Business Park on Cowley Road in Cambridge.
According to ...
. This facility includes a 154-metre (505 ft) high guyed radio mast which collapsed in 2004 after a fire and has since been re-built. Another transmission site at Gunthorpe in the north east of the city transmits AM/ MW and local FM radio. The site is only 3 metres (10 ft)
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
and has an 83-metre (270 ft) high active insulated guyed mast situated on it.
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 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.
Heart Cambridgeshire
Heart Cambridgeshire was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and eastern Northamptonshire and parts of surrounding counties from studios in Cambri ...
, the original
independent local radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...
station launched as Hereward Radio in 1980 and becoming
Heart Peterborough
Heart Peterborough (formerly Hereward FM) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Cambridgeshire, south Lincolnshire and west Norfolk. Launched on 10 July 1980 as Hereward Radio 225, the station was the first local service in the area, wi ...
in 2009, still holds a large section of the market on 102.7 MHz but relocated to Cambridge in 2012, where it began sharing the localised programming (of mainly national output) with
Heart Cambridge
Heart 103 (formerly Q103) is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Cambridge on 103.0 MHz and DAB Digital Radio. Heart also broadcast in Newmarket and Haverhill on 97.4 MHz.
History
The station was originally owned by ...
. Hereward's sister station, WGMS, was launched on the old 1332 kHz (225 meters) frequency in 1992; known as
Classic Gold
Classic Gold was a network of three "Gold" music formatted stations which broadcast on AM in Bradford, Hull and Sheffield. They were the sister stations of Pennine Radio, Viking Radio and Radio Hallam respectively and they were part of the Yo ...
from 1994 to 2007, it is now part of Heart's sister Gold 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 is now broadcast partly from Kettering and partly from Southend. Connect Radio was again sold and rebranded as Smooth East Midlands on 1 October 2019.
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, the
BBC local radio
BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of forty stations.
History
The popularity of pirate radio was to challenge a change within ...
station, began broadcasting on 1 May 1982 on 95.7 MHz (and, originally, 1449 kHz) in the north of the county; it maintains a studio in Priestgate, having moved from Broadway in 2012.
Kiss 105-108
Kiss 105-108 was an Independent local radio station serving East Anglia from the Kiss Network. All programming after 2010 was networked from the national station KISS.
Technical
FM
Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, North Essex 106.4 FM Mend ...
is the regional station for the East of England, broadcasting, since 2006, on 107.7 MHz in Peterborough.
NOW Peterborough
Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquar ...
BBC National DAB
BBC National DAB is a digital audio broadcasting multiplex in the UK, for a number of radio stations which have UK wide coverage. The multiplex is owned and operated by the BBC and is transmitted from a number of transmitter sites across the cou ...
and the national commercial multiplex,
Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...
, are also available in the city. Peterborough is in the
Anglia Television
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
transmission area for Independent Television, with a small studio in the city (although it borders
ITV Central
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...
). This is broadcast with
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
and
Two
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
digital switchover
The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...
in the East of England took place in 2011. Shopping channel
Ideal World
Ideal World is a British TV shopping channel, broadcasting on Freeview, Satellite, Cable and online, with transactional websites, broadcast from studios in Peterborough.
History
Ideal World has its origins in the 1980s as a mail order compan ...
is broadcast nationwide on
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
from studios in Newark Road, Fengate.
The ''
Peterborough Telegraph
The ''Peterborough Telegraph'', or ''PT'' as it is known locally (formerly the ''Peterborough Evening Telegraph'' or ''ET''), is the local newspaper for the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It is based at New Priestga ...
'' (established 1948) is the city's newspaper, published on Thursdays and, until 2012, six days a week as the Evening Telegraph, with jobs, property, motors and entertainment supplements. The Telegraph is now owned by East Midlands Newspapers, part of
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'' ...
of Edinburgh. Its website, Peterborough Today, is updated six days a week. The ''PT's'' sister paper, the ''Peterborough Citizen'' (1898), was a weekly paper delivered free to many homes in the city. The ''
Peterborough Herald and Post
The ''Peterborough Herald and Post'' was a weekly freesheet delivered to households in the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It was run from offices on Cross Street in the city centre, until ceasing operations in 2008. ...
'' (1989, a replacement for the ''Peterborough Standard'', established 1872) ceased publication in 2008. The publisher
Emap
Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
Ric ...
, which specialises in the production of magazines and the organisation of business events and conferences, traces its origins back to Peterborough in 1854. The 33rd Mayor of Peterborough, Sir
Richard Winfrey
Sir Richard Winfrey (5 August 1858 – 18 April 1944) was a British Liberal politician, newspaper publisher and campaigner for agricultural rights. He served as Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk, 1906–1923, and for Gainsborough, 192 ...
JP, founder of what would become the East Midland Allied Press, was perhaps the last person to read the
Riot Act
The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...
in 1914.
Peterborough has been used as a location for various television programmes and films. The 1982 BBC production of ''
The Barchester Chronicles
''The Barchester Chronicles'' is a 1982 British television serial produced by Jonathan Powell for the BBC. It is an adaptation by Alan Plater of Anthony Trollope's first two Chronicles of Barsetshire, ''The Warden'' (1855) and ''Barchester Towe ...
'' was filmed largely in and around Peterborough. In 1983 opening scenes for the 13th
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film, ''
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...
'', starring Sir
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...
, were filmed at Orton Mere. A music video for the song " BreakThru" by the band
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
was also shot on the preserved
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
in 1989. In 1995
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...
filmed train crash sequences for the 17th Bond film, ''
GoldenEye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the ser ...
'', at the former sugar beet factory. A scene for the film ''
The Da Vinci Code
''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...
'' was filmed at Burghley House during five weeks' secret filming in 2006; and actor,
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...
, found himself camping in Ferry Meadows during the filming of '' The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission'' in 1985. In October 2008 Hollywood returned to Wansford for the filming of the musical ''
Nine
9 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
9 or nine may also refer to:
Dates
* AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era
* 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era
* 9, numerical symbol for the month of September
Places
* Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
'', starring
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; ; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British A ...
and
Daniel Day-Lewis
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...
.
Landmarks
The Cathedral Church of
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
,
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
and
Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
, whose statues look down from the three high gables of the West Front, was founded as a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
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 the
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
was created in 1541, when the last abbot was made the first bishop and the abbot's house was converted into the episcopal palace. Peterborough Cathedral is one of the most intact large
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
buildings in England and is renowned for its imposing early
English Gothic
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...
West Front which, with its three enormous arches, is without architectural precedent and with no direct successor. The cathedral has the distinction of having had two queens buried beneath its paving:
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...
and
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
. The remains of Queen Mary were removed to
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
by her son
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
when he became King of England.Sweeting, Walter Debenham ''The Cathedral Church of Peterborough: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See'' (pp.3–35) G. Bell & Sons, London, 1898 facsimile of the 1926 reprint of the 2nd ed. of Bell's Cathedrals from
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
. Retrieved 23 April 2007).
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-century
Guildhall
A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...
was built in 1671 by John Lovin, who also restored the bishop's palace shortly after the
restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
of King Charles 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.
Peterscourt
Peterscourt is a building in Peterborough, on City Road, which was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1859. It is Grade II listed.
History
The building was designed for, and housed, St. Peter's Teacher Training College for me ...
on City Road was designed by Sir
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
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 the
London Guildhall
Guildhall is a municipal building in the Moorgate area of the City of London, England. It is off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and i ...
following war damage. Nearby Tout Hill, the site of a castle bailey, is a
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
. The city has a large Victorian 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 the
Green Flag Award
The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...
, the national standard for parks and green spaces, by the Civic Trust. A
Cross of Sacrifice
The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or ...
was erected in Broadway cemetery by the
Imperial War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
in the early 1920s.
The Lido
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, a striking building with elements of
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
design, was opened in 1936 and is one of the few survivors of its type still in use.
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery houses the historical and art collections of the city of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, England. Managed by Vivacity on behalf of the city council, it is part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership.
Histo ...
, 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 the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
period of international importance; the manuscripts of
John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...
, the "Northamptonshire Peasant Poet" as he was commonly known in his own time; and the Norman Cross collection of items made by French prisoners of war. These prisoners were kept at
Norman Cross
Norman Cross Prison in Huntingdonshire, England, was the world's first purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp or "depot", built in 1796–97 to hold prisoners of war from France and its allies during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic War ...
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.
Burghley House
Burghley House () is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family. The exterior largely retains its Elizabet ...
to the north of Peterborough, near Stamford, was built and mostly designed by
Sir William Cecil
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
, later 1st Baron Burghley, who was
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
to Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign. The
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
, with a park laid out by
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown
Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English lan ...
in the 18th century, is one of the principal examples of 16th-century English architecture. The estate, still home to his descendants, hosts the
Burghley Horse Trials
The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three-day event held at Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, currently in early September. Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is classified by the FEI as one of the six leading th ...
, an annual three-day
event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
. Another Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
,
Milton Hall
Milton Hall near Peterborough, is the largest private house in Cambridgeshire, England.This Milton Hall should not be confused with the other Milton Hall just to the north of Cambridge in the village of Milton. The Milton Hall near Cambridge is ...
near Castor, ancestral home of the Barons and later
Earls Fitzwilliam
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
, also dates from the same period. For two centuries following the restoration the city was a
pocket borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
of this family.
The
John Clare Cottage
John Clare Cottage is a cottage and literary museum in Helpston, Peterborough, United Kingdom. The cottage was the birthplace of English poet John Clare (1793-1864).
The thatched Grade II* cottage at 12 Woodgate, Helpston, originally consisted of ...
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. 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
Longthorpe Tower is a 14th-century three-storey tower in the village of Longthorpe, famous for its well-preserved set of medieval murals.
Details
Longthorpe tower is located in the village of Longthorpe, now a residential area of Peterborough ...
, a 14th-century three-storey tower and fortified manor house in the care of
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, is situated about 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. Nearby Thorpe Hall is one of the few mansions built in the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
period. A maternity hospital from 1943 to 1970, it was acquired by the
Sue Ryder Foundation
Sue Ryder is a British palliative, neurological and bereavement support charity based in the United Kingdom. Formed as The Sue Ryder Foundation in 1953 by World War II Special Operations Executive volunteer Sue Ryder, the organisation provides c ...
in 1986 and is currently in use as a hospice.
Flag Fen
Flag Fen, east of Peterborough, Pryor 2005. p. 9. England, is a Bronze Age site which was constructed about 3500 years ago and consists of more than 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows, creating a wooden causeway (around 1 km lo ...
, the Bronze Age archaeological site, was discovered in 1982, when a team led by Dr
Francis Pryor
Francis Manning Marlborough Pryor (born 13 January 1945) is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Britain. He is best known for his discovery and excavation of Flag Fen, a Bronze Age archaeological s ...
carried out a
survey
Survey may refer to:
Statistics and human research
* Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population
* Survey (human research), including opinion polls
Spatial measurement
* Surveying, the techniq ...
of dykes in the area. Probably religious, it comprises a large number of poles arranged in five long rows, connecting
Whittlesey
Whittlesey (also Whittlesea) is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. Whittlesey is east of Peterborough. The population of the parish was 16,058 at the 2011 Census.
History and architecture
W ...
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 the
Fen Causeway
Fen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver, Norfolk in the east and Peterborough in the west.Phillips, C.W. ''The Fenland in Roman Times''. Royal Geographical Society (1970). Its path ...
also crosses the site.
The
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
, which is now a 7.5-mile (12 km)
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
, was one of the last passenger lines to fall under the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
in 1966, although it remained open for freight traffic until 1972. In 1974, the former
development corporation
Development corporations or development firms are organizations established by governments in several countries for the purpose of urban development. They often are responsible for the development of new suburban areas or the redevelopment of exi ...
bought the line, which runs from the city centre to
Yarwell Junction
Yarwell Junction is the current western terminus of the Nene Valley Railway. It opened at Easter 2007.
It was formerly the junction of the Peterborough to Northampton and Peterborough to Market Harborough
Market Harborough is a market ...
just west of
Wansford Wansford may refer to the following places in England:
* Wansford, Cambridgeshire
** Wansford railway station, headquarters of the Nene Valley Railway
* Wansford, East Riding of Yorkshire
{{Geodis ...
via
Orton Mere
Nene Park is a country park in the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. Opened in 1978, it occupies a site approximately three and a half miles long, from slightly west of Castor to the centre of Peterborough.
The Park ha ...
and the 500 acre (202 ha)
Ferry Meadows
Nene Park is a country park in the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. Opened in 1978, it occupies a site approximately three and a half miles long, from slightly west of Castor to the centre of Peterborough.
The Park ha ...
country park, and leased it to the Peterborough Railway Society.
Railworld
Railworld Wildlife Haven is a charity in Peterborough which has a nature haven, a model railway and other exhibits. It is located on a landscaped former coal storage yard which once served Peterborough Power Station.
It was founded by Rev. R ...
is a railway museum located beside
Peterborough Nene Valley railway station
Peterborough Nene Valley is a station on the Nene Valley Railway and is the current eastern terminus of the line. Situated adjacent to Railworld, the station can be found west of the East Coast Main Line, close to the Junction of London Road ...
.
The
Nene Park
Nene Park was a sports stadium situated at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, which could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. It formerly hosted football matches but at ...
, which opened in 1978, covers a site 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 the
Green Wheel
Peterborough Green Wheel
The Peterborough Millennium Green Wheel is an network of cycleways, footpaths and bridleways. Designed as part of a sustainable transport system for the city, it was created as part of a Millennium project around Peter ...
, occupies a large portion of Nene Park. Orton Mere provides access to the east of the park.
Southey Wood, once included in the Royal Forest of Rockingham, is a mixed woodland maintained by the
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...
Bedford Purlieus
Bedford Purlieus is a ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It is a national nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. In Thornhaugh civil parish, south of Stamf ...
sites of special scientific interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
. In 2002, the Hills and Holes, one of
Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...
's 35 spotlight reserves, was designated a
special area of conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...
as part of the
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...
network of sites throughout the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Notable people
Peterborough is the birthplace of many notable people, the astronomer
George Alcock
George Eric Deacon Alcock, MBE (28 August 1912, in Peterborough, Northamptonshire – 15 December 2000) was an English astronomer. He was one of the most successful visual discoverers of novae and comets.
George’s interest in astronomy wa ...
, one of the most successful visual discoverers of
nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
s and
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
s;
John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...
, from Helpston, the nineteenth century poet; artist, Christopher Perkins – brother of Frank; and Sir
Henry Royce
Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, (27 March 1863 – 22 April 1933) was an English engineer famous for his designs of car and aeroplane engines with a reputation for reliability and longevity. With Charles Rolls (1877–1910) and Claude ...
, 1st
Baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
of Seaton, engineer and co-founder of
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
. Physician, actor and author, "Sir"
John Hill John Hill may refer to:
Business
* John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary
* John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter
* John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...
, credited with 76 separate works in the ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', the most valuable of which dealing with
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, is also said to have been born here. The socialist writer and illustrator, Frank Horrabin, who was born in the city, and was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament in
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
.
The
utilitarian
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals.
Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...
Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to:
* Richard Cumberland (philosopher) (1631–1718), bishop, philosopher
* Richard Cumberland (dramatist) (1732–1811), civil servant, dramatist
* Richard Cumberland (priest) (1710–1737), Archdeacon of Northa ...
, was 14th Lord Bishop of Peterborough from 1691 until his death in 1718; and Norfolk-born nurse and humanitarian,
Edith Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Be ...
, 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. A gravedigger called Old Scarlett, who's 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's ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''. Two prominent historical figures were born locally,
Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...
, an outlaw who led resistance to the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
and now lends his name to several places and businesses in the city; and St. John Payne, one of the group of prominent Catholics
martyred
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
beatified
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
by
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
in 1886 and
canonised
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
with the other 39 by
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
in 1970.
Musicians include Sir Thomas Armstrong, organist, conductor and former principal of the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
electronic pop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a r ...
duo
Erasure
Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...
; Barrie Forgie, leader of the
BBC Big Band
The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long- ...
;
Don Lusher
Don Lusher OBE (6 November 1923 – 5 July 2006) was an English jazz and big band trombonist best known for his association with the Ted Heath Big Band. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he played trombone with a number of jazz orchestras ...
, trombonist and former professor of the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...
and the
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
School of Music;
Paul Nicholas
Paul Nicholas (born Paul Oscar Beuselinck; 3 December 1944) is an English actor and singer. He started out with a pop career, but soon changed to musical theatre, playing the lead role in ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' at the West End’s Palace ...
, actor and singer;
Maxim Reality
Keith Andrew Palmer (born 21 March 1967), better known by his stage name Maxim (previously Maxim Reality), is an English musician, known for being a vocalist of electronic music band the Prodigy.
Pre-Prodigy history
Palmer was born in Peterboro ...
and
Gizz Butt
Graham Anthony "Gizz" Butt (born 3 August 1966 in Manchester, England) is a British musician, lead vocalist and lead guitarist for Janus Stark best known for being the live guitarist for the band The Prodigy in the late 1990s. His own band Jan ...
of
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...
and
Aston Merrygold
Aston Iain Merrygold (born 13 February 1988) is an English singer, dancer, television personality and actor. He is known for being a member of the British boy band JLS, who were the runners-up to Alexandra Burke in the fifth series of ''The X ...
of
Brit Award
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
-winning pop group
JLS
JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production company ...
. Comedian
Ernie Wise
Ernest Wiseman, (27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially ...
lived on Thorpe Avenue for many years, next door to Canadian baritone and actor
Edmund Hockridge
Edmund James Arthur Hockridge (9 August 1919 – 15 March 2009) was a Canadian baritone and actor who had an active performance career in musicals, operas, concerts, plays and on radio. According to his obituary in ''The Guardian'', his li ...
.
Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...
also lived in the city in the early 1990s.
Other media personalities include actors
Simon Bamford
Simon Bamford is an English film, television and stage actor. He is well known for playing the Butterball Cenobite in ''Hellraiser'' in 1987 and its sequel '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' in 1988.
Career
Simon graduated from Mountview Academy ...
, known for the 'Hellraiser' franchise,
Adrian Lyne
Adrian Lyne (born 4 March 1941) is an English film director, writer and producer. Having begun his career directing 1970s television commercials, Lyne made well-received short films which were entries in the London Film Festival. He started mak ...
, director of ''
Fatal Attraction
''Fatal Attraction'' is a 1987 American psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne from a screenplay by James Dearden, based on his 1980 short film '' Diversion''. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer, the film centers ...
'',
Oscar Jacques
Oscar Jacques (born Peterborough, England
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough ...
, known for playing Tom Tupper in the
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
Luke Pasqualino
Luca Giuseppe "Luke" Pasqualino (born 19 February 1990) is a British actor of Italian descent. He is best known for his portrayal of Freddie McClair in the television series '' Skins'', d'Artagnan in the television series ''The Musketeers'' an ...
The Musketeers
''The Musketeers'' is a British period action drama programme based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...
''; television presenter,
Sarah Cawood
Sarah Louise Cawood (born 7 August 1972 in St Pancras, London) is an English broadcaster, best known for presenting the BBC Children's Saturday flagship morning show ''Live & Kicking''.
Career
Cawood grew up in the Cambridgeshire village of ...
, who grew up in Maxey; BBC
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
presenter,
Jake Humphrey
Jacob John Humphrey DL (born 7 October 1978) is an English television presenter, best known for hosting Champions League and Premier League football on BT Sport, CBBC's Bamzooki, and BBC Sport's coverage of Formula 1 Grand Prix. He is the co- ...
; football journalist and Talksport radio presenter,
Adrian Durham
Adrian Durham (born 13 May 1969) is an English football journalist and broadcaster.
Early life
Durham was born in Peterborough and was educated at Dogsthorpe School.
Career
Durham began his broadcasting career in Leeds in the early 1990s wo ...
; and the biologist, author and broadcaster, Prof.
Brian J. Ford
Brian J. Ford HonFLS HonFRMS (born 1939 in Corsham, Wiltshire) is an independent research biologist, author, and lecturer, who publishes on scientific issues for the general public. He has also been a television personality for more than 40 ...
, who attended the King's School and still lives in Eastrea near Whittlesey. PJ Ligouri, a YouTuber with over a million subscribers spent his childhood in Peterborough. Local businessman,
Peter Boizot
Peter James Boizot MBE (; 16 November 1929 – 5 December 2018) was an English entrepreneur, restaurateur, politician, art collector and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of PizzaExpress.
Early years
The son of Gaston and Su ...
, founder of the
Pizza Express
PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the Unite ...
restaurant chain and Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, has supported the cultural and sporting life of Peterborough and received its highest accolade, the freedom of the city. The
thalidomide
Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications of ...
victim
Terry Wiles
Terrence 'Terry' Wiles (born 12 January 1962) was one of the most disabled thalidomide babies born in the UK. He has since become known internationally through the Emmy Award winningOn Giant's Shoulders
''On Giant's Shoulders'' is a 1979 BBC television film about the early life of thalidomide victim Terry Wiles, with Wiles playing himself. The drama also starred Bryan Pringle and Judi Dench and won an Emmy Award in 1980.Judi Dench's nomina ...
'', was born in the city.
In the sporting world, former
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and
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 b ...
footballer,
David Bentley
David Michael Bentley (born 27 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a winger, but also played as a central midfielder or as a second striker.
Bentley started his career with Arsenal in the Premie ...
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
's first gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal in a century. Chelsea Football player, currently on loan at
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
footballer
Isaiah Brown
Isaiah Jay Brown (born 7 January 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and is currently a free agent. He represented the England national under-20 team.
Brown played for West Bromwich Albion's academ ...
, was born in Peterborough, before joining Leicester City and later West Bromwich Albion, becoming the second youngest player to play in the Premier League. Harry Wells a
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
player for
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...
in
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...
was born in Peterborough and attended
The King's (The Cathedral) School
Founded by King Henry VIII, The King's (The Cathedral) School is a state-funded Church of England school located in Peterborough, England.
Although for centuries a boys-only grammar school, "Kings" is now mixed and has a Junior Department in M ...
, made his debut in 2021.
Geography
Climate
According to the
Köppen classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...
the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
experience a
maritime climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
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 most
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
depressions, Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the UK, receiving, on average, around 600 mm (2 ft) of rain per year. The Met Office weather station at Wittering, within the unitary authority of Peterborough, recorded a maximum temperature of on 25 July 2019. The lowest temperature in recent years was during February 2012.
Topography
East Anglia is most notable for being almost flat (it is mainly on a floodplain). During the
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
much of the region was covered by ice sheets and this has influenced the topography and nature of the soils. Much of Cambridgeshire is low-lying, in some places below present-day mean sea level. The lowest point on land is supposedly just to the south of the city at
Holme Fen
Holme Fen is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Holme in Cambridgeshire. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Great Fen project, which aims to create a 3,700 w ...
, which is 2.75 metres (9 ft) below sea level. The largest of the many settlements along the
Fen
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...
edge, Peterborough has been called the ''Gateway to the Fens''. Before they were drained
the Fens
The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...
were liable to periodic flooding so
arable farming
Arable land (from the la, wikt:arabilis#Latin, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Al ...
was limited to the higher areas of the Fen edge, with the rest of the Fenland dedicated to
pastoral farming
Pastoral farming (also known in some regions as ranching, livestock farming or grazing) is aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, ar ...
. 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. The unitary authority extends north west to the settlements of
Wothorpe
Wothorpe is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire, England. It is in the far north-west of the district, and to the south of Stamford (in Lincolnshire). The parish borders Northamptonshire to the west ...
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county.
Etymology
Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures that ...
and includes the Ortons, south of the River Nene. It borders Northamptonshire to the west, Lincolnshire to the north, and the Cambridgeshire districts of Fenland and
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...
to the south and east. The city centre is located at 52°35'N
latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
0°15'W
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
national grid reference TL 185 998.
Urban areas
''Townships are in bold type. In addition to the surrounding villages, Bretton, Orton Longueville and Orton Waterville are parished. The city council also works closely with Werrington neighbourhood association which operates on a similar basis to a parish council.'' Bretton –
Dogsthorpe
Dogsthorpe is a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 9,620. Cambridgeshire Fire and ...
Fengate
Fengate is a predominantly industrial area of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For electoral purposes it forms part of Peterborough East ward. The industrial estate is k ...
–
Fletton
Fletton is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England, south of the River Nene.
Notable for its large brickworks, the area has given its name to "Fletton bricks",
Admin ...
The Hamptons
The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...
–
Longthorpe
Longthorpe is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the unparished area of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. Located west from the city centre, the area covers . For electoral purp ...
–
Millfield
Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935.
Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
–
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places.
England
*Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire
**Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury
*Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire
*Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire
*Ravensthorpe, an histor ...
Walton Walton may refer to:
People
* Walton (given name)
* Walton (surname)
* Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer
Places
Canada
* Walton, Nova Scotia, a community
** Walton River (Nova Scotia)
*Walton, Ontario, a hamlet
United Kingdo ...
Civil parishes
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...
do not cover the whole of England and mostly exist in rural hinterland. They are usually administered by parish councils which have various local responsibilities.'' Ailsworth – Bainton –
Barnack
Barnack is a village and civil parish, now in the Peterborough unitary authority of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England and the historic county of Northamptonshire. Barnack is in the north-west of the unitary authority, south-east ...
–
Borough Fen
Borough Fen is a civil parish in the City of Peterborough unitary authority in Cambridgeshire, England. The parish is to the north of Peterborough city centre, just below the county border with Lincolnshire. Much of the land in the 19th centur ...
Deeping Gate
Deeping Gate is a village and civil parish, lying on the River Welland in Cambridgeshire. Traditionally, the area was part of the Soke of Peterborough, geographically considered a part of Northamptonshire; it now falls within the City of Peter ...
Eye Green
Eye Green is a hamlet in the unitary authority of Peterborough, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies north of Eye and south of Crowland.
Eye Green Nature Reserve abounds the A47 Trunk Road, which separates Eye Green fro ...
Helpston
Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an England, English village formerly in the Soke of Peterborough, geographically in Northamptonshire, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in Cambridgeshire, and administered b ...
–
Marholm
Marholm is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. West of Peterborough and 1 mile from the seat of the Fitzwilliam family at Milton Hall. The parish covers some 1,400 acre ...
Peakirk
Peakirk is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For local government purposes it forms part of Glinton and Castor ward; for parliamentary purposes it falls within Peterbor ...
–
Southorpe
Southorpe is a settlement and civil parish in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For electoral purposes it forms part of Barnack
Barnack is a village and civil parish, now in the Peterborough unit ...
Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location
* S ...
Thornhaugh
Thornhaugh is a civil parish and village in the city of Peterborough unitary authority, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For electoral purposes it forms part of Glinton and Wittering ward in North West Cambridgeshire constituency.
Thornh ...
Wansford Wansford may refer to the following places in England:
* Wansford, Cambridgeshire
** Wansford railway station, headquarters of the Nene Valley Railway
* Wansford, East Riding of Yorkshire
{{Geodis ...
Wothorpe
Wothorpe is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire, England. It is in the far north-west of the district, and to the south of Stamford (in Lincolnshire). The parish borders Northamptonshire to the west ...
These are further arranged into 24 electoral
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
for the purposes of local government. 15 wards comprise the Peterborough constituency for elections to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, while the remaining nine fall within the North West Cambridgeshire constituency.
Linguistics
Peterborough lies in the middle of several distinct regional accent groups and as such has a hybrid of Fenland
East Anglian
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom of the Kingdom of East Anglia, East Angles, ...
Estuary English
Estuary English is an English accent associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London. Phonetician John C. Wells proposed a definition of Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the southea ...
features. The city falls just north of the A vowel
isogloss
An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major d ...
and as such most native speakers will use the flat A, as found in ''cat'', in words such as ''last''. ''Yod''-dropping is often heard from Peterborians, as in the rest of East Anglia, for example ''new'' as . However, the large number of newcomers has impacted greatly on the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Town twinning
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
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:
*
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...
Bourges
Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry.
History
The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...
, France (1957)
*
Forlì
Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna.
The city is situated along the Via E ...
, Italy (1981)
*
Viersen
Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...
, Germany (1981)
*
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug.
It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...
, Ukraine (1991)
Bourges
Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry.
History
The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...
and
Forlì
Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna.
The city is situated along the Via E ...
are also twinned with each other. The city also has more informal friendship links with
Foggia
Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...
, Italy;
Kwe Kwe
Kwekwe ( ), known until 1983 as Que Que, is a city in the Midlands province of central Zimbabwe. The city has a population of 119,863 within the city limits, as of the 2022 census, making it the 7th-largest city in Zimbabwe and the second-most p ...
, Zimbabwe;
Pécs
Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...
, Hungary; and all Peterboroughs around the world. The county of Cambridgeshire has been twinned with
Kreis Viersen
Viersen () is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Cleves, Wesel, district-free Krefeld, Neuss, district-free Mönchengladbach, Heinsberg and the Dutch province of Limburg.
History
In 181 ...
, Germany since 1983.
Freedom of the City
The following People, Military Units and Organisations and Groups have received the
Freedom of the City
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
of Peterborough.
Individuals
*
Peter Boizot
Peter James Boizot MBE (; 16 November 1929 – 5 December 2018) was an English entrepreneur, restaurateur, politician, art collector and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of PizzaExpress.
Early years
The son of Gaston and Su ...
: 2007.
*
Wyndham Thomas
Wyndham Rowland Thomas (1 June 1911 – 29 January 1992) played first-class cricket in one match for Somerset in 1928. He was born in Bedford and died at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Thomas had one of the briefest first-class cricket care ...
, British Architect. 19 September 2015
* Louis Smith: 21 March 2017.
*
James Fox
William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', ''The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performanc ...
: 21 March 2017.
* Lee Manning: 21 March 2017.
*
Tommy Robson
Thomas Henry Robson (31 July 1944 – 8 October 2020) was an English footballer who made more than 600 appearances in the Football League playing as a left winger.
Life and career
Robson was born in Gateshead. He played for Newcastle United ...
: 12 March 2020.
Military Units
*
RAF Wittering
Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...
: 1983.
* 158 (Royal Anglian) Transport Regiment,
Royal Logistic Corps
The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army.
History
The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps:
* Royal Engine ...
(Volunteers): 25 July 2009.
* 115 (Peterborough) Squadron
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...
: 28 April 2014.
Organisations and Groups
*
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...
(Peterborough Branch): 4 March 2015.
* The
Royal British Legion
The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...
(Peterborough Branch): 28 July 2021.
References
Notes
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Banham, John ''Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire'' HMSO, London, 1994.
* Banham, John ''Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin'' HMSO, London, 1995.
* Bennett, Jack Arthur Walter ''Middle English Literature'' (ed. and completed by Douglas Gray) Oxford University Press, 1986 ().
* Brandon, David and Knight, John ''Peterborough Past: The City and The Soke'' Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 2001 ().
* Chisholm, Hugh (ed.) ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (11th ed., 28 vols.) Cambridge University Press, 1911 (text in the public domain).
* Clark, Cecily (ed.) ''The Peterborough Chronicle 1070–1154'' Oxford University Press, 1958 ().
* Colpi, Terry ''The Italian Factor: The Italian Community in Great Britain'' Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 1991 ().
* Davies, Elizabeth et al. ''Peterborough: A Story of City and Country, People and Places'' Peterborough City Council and Pitkin Unichrome, 2001 ().
* Garmonsway, George Norman (trans.) ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1972 & 1975 ().
* Grainger, Margaret ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the John Clare Collection'' Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, 1973 ().
* Hancock, Henry Drummond ''Report and Proposals for the East Midlands General Review Area'' (LGCE Report No.3) HMSO, London, 1961.
* Hancock, Henry Drummond ''Report and Proposals for the Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area'' (LGCE Report No.9) HMSO, London, 1965.
* Hancock, Tom ''Greater 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 of John Allen Giles).
* King, Richard John ''Handbook to the Cathedrals of England'' John Murray, London, 1862.
* Labrum, Edward A. ''Civil Engineering Heritage: Eastern and Central England'' Thomas Telford, London, 1994 ().
* Leatham, Victoria ''Burghley: The Life of a Great House'' The Herbert Press, London, 1992 ().
* Colin Matthew, Matthew, Henry Colin Gray and Brian Harrison (historian), Harrison, Brian Howard (eds.) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (60 vols.) Oxford University Press in association with the British Academy, 2004–2006 ().
* Mellows, William Thomas (ed.) ''The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus a Monk of Peterborough'', Oxford University Press, 1949 (scholarly ed. in Latin language, Latin).
* Mellows, William Thomas (ed.) ''The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus'' (trans.) Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archæological Society, 1941 (popular ed. in English).
* Newton, David ''Men of Mark: Makers of East Midland Allied Press'' Emap, Peterborough, 1977 ().
* Parthey, Gustav and Pinder, Moritz (eds.) ''Itinerarivm Antonini Avgvsti et Hierosolymitanum: ex libris manu scriptis'' Friederich Nicolaus, Berlin, 1848.
* Pryor, Francis ''Flag Fen: Life and Death of a Prehistoric Landscape'' Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2005 ().
* Rhodes, John ''The Nene Valley Railway'' Turntable Publications, Sheffield, 1976 ().
* Salter, Mike ''The Castles of East Anglia'' Folly Publications, Malvern, 2001 ().
* Skinner, Julia (with particular reference to the work of Robert Cook) ''Did You Know? Peterborough: A Miscellany'' The Francis Frith Collection, Salisbury, 2006 ().
* Sweeting, Walter Debenham ''The 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 ().
* Turner, Roger ''Capability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape'' Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 1999 ().
* Youngs, Frederic A. ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'' (2 vols.) The Offices of the Royal Historical Society, University College London, 1991 ().
Peterborough Today
{{Authority control
Peterborough,
Cities in the East of England
Towns in Cambridgeshire
New towns in England
New towns started in the 1960s
Unparished areas in Cambridgeshire