Eastfield is a residential area of the city of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, in the

district, in the ceremonial county of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. For electoral purposes it comprises part of Peterborough East ward, together with Fengate and Parnwell. In 2001 it had a resident population of 8,424. Of a total 3,824 households, 52.88% are owner occupied, compared to 66.30% in the Peterborough

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

area.

Overview

The Church of England parish of

Saint Mary the Virgin Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

was created by

Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

on 1 September 1857. It was the largest parish in the city and comprised Boongate/ Eastgate, Eastfield and Newark (then an outlying village) to the east of Peterborough city centre. A church was commissioned as a "poor church" for the parish and its foundation stone was laid on 30 September 1859. It was designed by the Gothic Revival architect

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

, built of relatively cheap local stone, and consecrated on 7 August 1860. It had a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

and south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

, and in 1883 a tower with a saddleback roof was added. In the 20th century the Victorian church was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and on 22 October 1989 work began on a new building. The new St. Mary's was dedicated by William, Lord Bishop of Peterborough on 16 November 1991. Newark Hill County

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

was opened in 1959. The school admits up to 60 children each year and has capacity of 420 pupils. Abbotsmede County Primary also serves the area. Eastholm School was founded in 1853 but moved to its present site in two stages, Eastholm

Secondary Modern A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupils ...

School for Girls in 1957 and Eastholm Secondary Modern School for Boys in 1966. The two schools were merged in 1973 and became comprehensive for pupils aged 11–18 when education in the county was reorganised in 1976. The school, which was renamed Hereward Community College in 1997, closed in July 2007 and merged with Deacon's School and John Mansfield School to form the Thomas Deacon Academy which opened in September 2007. City of Peterborough Academy was opened by Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust on the former Eastholm site in 2013; it is co-located with the Academy Special School, which opened in 2012. St. Thomas Moore

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(

Voluntary Aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

) Primary and St. John Fisher RC Comprehensive schools are also located in the area. Peterborough Regional College was founded in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College. In 1952 the first instalment of the purpose-built Eastfield site opened on land adjacent to the East of England Showground. Peterborough Agricultural Society moved to a site at Alwalton in 1965 and the college was completed in 1969. Frank Perkins formed and registered the company F. Perkins Limited to develop and manufacture a lightweight high-speed

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

in 1932. In 1940 the Eastfield headquarters plant opened and production officially began in 1947 transforming it from a small, family business to a large, modern company which has grown to attain an international market. Eastfield cemetery opened on the junction of Eastfield Road and Newark Avenue in 1919. Broadway cemetery, which opened in 1858, also backs onto Eastfield Road. Closed to new burials, this has been a designated county wildlife site since 1990. It contains approximately 150 species of flowers and plants, which include meadow saxifrage, ox-eye daisy and common knapweed. The

Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth of Nations, 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 grave ...

was erected by the Imperial War Graves Commission in the early 1920s.Buildings of Local Importance in Peterborough
(p. 88) Peterborough City Council, March 2013

References

External links

St. Mary's ChurchNewark Hill SchoolPeterborough Regional College
{{Peterborough Suburbs of Peterborough