Peterborough

City in eastern England, on the River Nene, 64 km/40 mi northeast of Northampton, and from April 1998 administrative headquarters of Peterborough unitary authority; population (2001) 136,100. Situated on the edge of the Fens in the centre of an agricultural area, it is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. Industries include sugar-beet refining, foodstuffs, aluminium founding and manufacturing, agricultural machinery, engineering, brick-making, diesel engines, and refrigerators. It has an advanced electronics industry. It is noted for its 12th-century cathedral. Nearby Flag Fen disclosed in 1985 a well-preserved Bronze Age settlement of 660 BC. The 17th-century Thorpe Hall is a cultural and leisure centre.

The plans for Hampton Township (formerly known as Peterborough Southern Township), the largest town in Europe built by the private sector, threatened the world's largest colony of great crested newts in old clay pits. Work has begun on the town, and the first people moved in in 1997.

The cathedral The cathedral, begun in 1117, was formerly the church of a Benedictine monastery. Architectural styles range from the Norman to the Perpendicular period, and prior to the Reformation it was considered one of the most magnificent in Britain. The first monastery was founded in 655, but was totally destroyed by the Danes in 870. In 972 a new monastery, founded by Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, was endowed by Edgar the Peaceful, and, fortified by Abbot Kenulph, acquired the name of Burgh. The Peterborough Chronicle, or later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, was composed by monks here. Somewhat parochial in outlook, it nevertheless gives a vivid account of the troubles of Stephen's reign. The second church was destroyed by fire in 1117, and in the following year the building of a third church began. The three-arched west front was completed in the reign of John, and many additions and alterations to the building were made almost up to the time of the surrender of the monastery in 1539, when the church was selected as one of the six cathedrals to be refounded from monastic churches in 1541 by Henry VIII, on the advice of Cranmer. The remains of Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII, lie in the cathedral, and those of Mary Queen of Scots lay buried here for a quarter of a century, before being moved to Westminster Abbey by her son, James I, in 1612. In 1643 the cathedral was ransacked by Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers, who destroyed most of the monuments and stained glass.

Growth of the city Before the Dissolution there had been a small borough dating back to the Norman era, the town growing up round the monastery. Both town and monastery were sacked by Hereward the Wake and the Danes in 1071, and the abbey tenants took part in the Peasants' Revolt during the reign of Edward II. The city itself was created by letters patent of Henry VIII on 4 September 1541. Growth in the 19th century was the result of improved drainage of the fens, and the arrival of the railway; growth in the 20th century was largely due to the brickworks at Fletton. Peterborough has always been the marketing centre for an important agricultural area.

Local government Formerly the powers of local government in Peterborough were divided between the dean and chapter (whose steward presided over a court held in and for the city); a rival parochial authority, which held certain town estates known as the feoffees; and governors of the town lands and stock. In 1874 the city became a municipal corporation. The justices for the Soke of Peterborough have by long-standing commissions (especially preserved by the Justices of the Peace Act, 1949) full powers of judges of assize, though in practice do not exercise their rights in the most serious category of cases.

The modern city Peterborough is a busy railway town being a junction for the northeastern and midland regions, situated on the London-Edinburgh line. It has large railway workshops. It is an industrial centre and an important wholesale and retail centre with the indoor Queensgate shopping centre. Bricks are manufactured in the adjoining areas of Fletton, Whittlesey, and Eye, and in the city at Dogsthorpe. Cattle and corn markets are held weekly: the Bridge Fair is held annually during the first week in October, and a famous agricultural show and the Royal Foxhound Show are held in July. Peterborough was designated a New Town (planned to absorb overspill population) in 1967.