In the seventh century the Anglo-Saxons built an abbey dedicated to St Peter, where the Roman Ermine Street crossed the River Nene. The town around the abbey came to be known as St Peter’s Burgh, and is dominated today by the cathedral on the site. However, there are many other fascinating buildings in Peterborough that mark the stages of its history: the remains of a Saxon church and a Norman castle, the first purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp at nearby Norman Cross, the grandeur of sixteenth-century Milton Hall and the seventeenth-century Guildhall, the Gothic Revival architecture of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s Peterscourt, through its industrial development and being the home of engine manufacturer Perkins. Designated a new town in the 1960s, Peterborough has tripled in population over the last fifty years, and it is now one of the UK’s environment cities, a green and thriving urban area with plenty of interesting historical structures to explore.
Peterborough in 50 Buildings explores the history of this city through a selection of its most interesting buildings and structures, showing the changes that have taken place over the years. This book will appeal to all those who live in Peterborough or who have an interest in the area.