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Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery houses the historical and art collections of the city of
The building, originally a private house dating from 1816 (though parts of the cellar date back to a house that was built in the 16th century), was acquired and donated to the Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archaeological Society in 1931 by Sir
Peterborough Museum has a collection of some 227,000 objects, including local archaeology and social history ranging from the products of the Time Team dig up old Norman Cross Pow camp's secrets
Peterborough Civic Society
{{authority control Houses completed in 1816 Museums established in 1931 Art galleries established in 1939 Buildings and structures in Peterborough Art museums and galleries in Cambridgeshire Local museums in Cambridgeshire Musical instrument museums 1931 establishments in England City museums in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Peterborough Natural history museums in England
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery houses the historical and art collections of 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 district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
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 ...
, England. Managed by Vivacity on behalf of the city council, it is part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership.
History
The building, originally a private house dating from 1816 (though parts of the cellar date back to a house that was built in the 16th century), was acquired and donated to the Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archaeological Society in 1931 by Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart
Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart, 1st Baronet (9 May 1872 – 27 February 1951), was an English industrialist and philanthropist. He incorporated The London Brick Company in the 1920s which was at the time reputed to be the largest brick making compa ...
; the art gallery was added in 1939.
The Priestgate mansion had been sold to Earl Fitzwilliam
Earl Fitzwilliam (or FitzWilliam) was a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Fitzwilliam family (later Wentworth-Fitzwilliam).
History
The Fitzwilliams acquired extensive holdings in the ...
in 1856, who allowed it to be used as a public dispensary and infirmary – the city's first hospital – from 1857 until the opening of the War Memorial Hospital
War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...
in 1928. In 1968, it was presented to the city by the Peterborough Museum Society.
Since 2010, the museum has been managed on behalf of the city council by Vivacity, an independent not-for-profit organisation with charitable status, which also runs the Key Theatre and the city's libraries.
Collections
Peterborough Museum has a collection of some 227,000 objects, including local archaeology and social history ranging from the products of the 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 ...
pottery industry to a collection of marine fossil remains of international importance 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.
The museum also contains the original 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.Peterborough Evening 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 ...
, 16 July 2009.
The art collection contains a variety of paintings, prints and drawings dating from the 17th century to the present day.
See also
*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 ...
References
External links
*Peterborough Civic Society
{{authority control Houses completed in 1816 Museums established in 1931 Art galleries established in 1939 Buildings and structures in Peterborough Art museums and galleries in Cambridgeshire Local museums in Cambridgeshire Musical instrument museums 1931 establishments in England City museums in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Peterborough Natural history museums in England