Editing Peterborough (section)

== Landmarks ==
[[File:Longthorpe Tower1.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Longthorpe Tower]] (1310), a Grade I listed building]]
[[Peterborough Cathedral]], formally the Cathedral Church of [[Saint Peter]], [[Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul]] and [[Saint Andrew]], whose statues look down from the three high gables of the West Front, was founded as a [[monastery]] in AD&nbsp;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]] was created in 1541, when the last abbot was made the first bishop and the abbot's house was converted into the episcopal palace.<ref name=lewis/> Peterborough Cathedral is one of the most intact large [[Romanesque architecture|Norman]] buildings in England and is renowned for its imposing early [[English Gothic architecture|English Gothic]] West Front which, with its three enormous arches, is without [[Cathedral architecture of Western Europe|architectural precedent]] and with no direct successor. The cathedral has the distinction of having had two queens buried beneath its paving: [[Catherine of Aragon]] and [[Mary, Queen of Scots]]. The remains of Queen Mary were removed to [[Westminster Abbey]] by her son [[James VI and I|James I]] when he became King of England.<ref name=Sweeting>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 ([https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13618 facsimile of the 1926 reprint of the 2nd ed. of Bell's Cathedrals] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610203511/http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13618 |date=10 June 2007 }} from [[Project Gutenberg]]. Retrieved 23 April 2007).</ref>

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 [[Peterborough Guildhall|Guildhall]] was built in 1671 by John Lovin, who also restored the bishop's palace shortly after the [[Stuart Restoration|restoration]] of King [[Charles II of England|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.<ref>Skinner, Julia (with particular reference to the work of Robert Cook) ''Did You Know? Peterborough: A Miscellany'' (pp.33, 25 & 16) The Francis Frith Collection, Salisbury, 2006.</ref>

[[Peterscourt]] on City Road was designed by Sir [[George Gilbert Scott]] 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 [[Guildhall, London|London Guildhall]] following war damage.<ref>[http://www.heritageexplorer.org.uk/web/he/searchdetail.aspx?id=7659&crit=semi Heritage Explorer: Images for Learning]{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} National Monuments Record, English Heritage (Retrieved 4 July 2010).</ref> Nearby [[Peterborough Castle|Tout Hill]], the site of a castle bailey, is a [[scheduled monument]].<ref name=Touthill /> The city has a large [[Victorian era|Victorian]] park containing formal gardens, children's play areas, an aviary, bowling green, tennis courts, pitch and putt course and tea rooms. [[Central Park, Peterborough|The Park]] has been awarded the [[Green Flag Award]], the national standard for parks and green spaces, by the [[Civic Voice|Civic Trust]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051221040643/http://www.greenflagaward.org.uk/downloads/GreenFlagAwardWinnersBrochure.pdf Green Flag Award Winners] (p.13) The Civic Trust, 21 July 2006. [http://www.peterborough.net/civicsociety/index.asp Peterborough Civic Society] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908010721/http://www.peterborough.net/civicsociety/index.asp |date=8 September 2007 }} is registered with the Civic Trust.</ref> A [[Cross of Sacrifice]] was erected in Broadway cemetery by the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|Imperial War Graves Commission]] in the early 1920s.<ref>[http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/pdf/CD043_Buildings_of_Local_Importance_in_Peterborough_March_2013_web.pdf Buildings of Local Importance in Peterborough] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031214710/http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/pdf/CD043_Buildings_of_Local_Importance_in_Peterborough_March_2013_web.pdf |date=31 October 2014 }} (p. 88) Peterborough City Council, March 2013.</ref> [[Peterborough Lido|The Lido]], a striking building with elements of [[art deco]] design, was opened in 1936 and is one of the few survivors of its type still in use.<ref>Brandon and Knight (pp.111–112).</ref>

[[Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery]], 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]] period of international importance; the manuscripts of [[John Clare]], the "Northamptonshire Peasant Poet" as he was commonly known in his own time;<ref>Grainger, Margaret ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the John Clare Collection'' Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, 1973.</ref> and the Norman Cross collection of items made by French prisoners of war. These prisoners were kept at [[Norman Cross Prison|Norman Cross]] 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]] to the north of Peterborough, near Stamford, was built and mostly designed by [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Sir William Cecil]], later 1st Baron Burghley, who was [[Lord High Treasurer]] to Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign.<ref>Leatham, Victoria ''Burghley: The Life of a Great House'' The Herbert Press, London, 1992. See also Becker, Alida [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDC1639F934A15751C1A964958260 "This Old House"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014214059/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDC1639F934A15751C1A964958260 |date=14 October 2007 }} (review of ''Life at Burghley: Restoring One of England's Great Houses'' by the same author), ''The New York Times'', 27 December 1992.</ref> The [[English country houses|country house]], with a park laid out by [[Lancelot 'Capability' Brown]] in the 18th century, is one of the principal examples of 16th-century English architecture.<ref>[[Roger Turner (garden designer)|Turner, Roger]] ''Capability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape'' (pp.110–112) Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 1999.</ref> The estate, still home to his descendants, hosts the [[Burghley Horse Trials]], an annual three-day [[eventing|event]]. Another Grade I [[listed building]], [[Milton Hall]] near Castor, ancestral home of the Barons and later [[Earl Fitzwilliam|Earls Fitzwilliam]], also dates from the same period. For two centuries following the restoration the city was a [[pocket borough]] of this family.<ref>[http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/page-5807 Wentworth-Fitzwilliam family of Milton] Peterborough City Council (Retrieved 22 September 2007). {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070916115959/http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/page-5807 |date=16 September 2007 }}</ref>

The [[John Clare Cottage]] 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.<ref>[http://www.clarecottage.org Welcome to John Clare Cottage] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521224643/http://www.clarecottage.org/ |date=21 May 2019 }} John Clare Trust (Retrieved 21 April 2015).</ref> 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]], a 14th-century three-storey tower and fortified manor house in the care of [[English Heritage]], is situated about {{cvt|2|mi|km|1}} 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.<ref>Salter, Mike ''The Castles of East Anglia'' (p.21) Folly Publications, Malvern, 2001.</ref> Nearby [[Thorpe Hall (Peterborough)|Thorpe Hall]] is one of the few mansions built in the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]] period. A maternity hospital from 1943 to 1970, it was acquired by the [[Sue Ryder Foundation]] in 1986 and is currently in use as a hospice.<ref>Brandon and Knight (p.17).</ref>

[[Flag Fen]], the Bronze Age archaeological site, was discovered in 1982, when a team led by Dr [[Francis Pryor]] carried out a [[Archaeological field survey|survey]] of [[Dike (construction)|dykes]] in the area. Probably religious, it comprises a large number of poles arranged in five long rows, connecting [[Whittlesey]] 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]] also crosses the site.<ref>[[Francis Pryor|Pryor, Francis]] ''Flag Fen: Life and Death of a Prehistoric Landscape'' Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2005.</ref>

The [[Nene Valley Railway]], which is now a {{convert|7.5|mi|km|adj=on}} [[heritage railway]], was one of the last passenger lines to fall under the [[Beeching Axe]] in 1966, although it remained open for freight traffic until 1972. In 1974, the former [[development corporation]] bought the line, which runs from the city centre to [[Yarwell Junction]] just west of [[Wansford, Cambridgeshire|Wansford]] via [[Orton Mere]] and the {{convert|500|acre|ha|abbr=off}} [[Ferry Meadows]] country park, and leased it to the Peterborough Railway Society.<ref>Rhodes, John ''The Nene Valley Railway'', Turntable Publications, Sheffield, 1976.</ref> [[Railworld]] is a railway museum located beside [[Peterborough Nene Valley railway station]].

The [[Nene Park, Peterborough|Nene Park]], which opened in 1978, covers a site {{cvt|3.5|mi|km|1}} 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]], occupies a large portion of Nene Park. Orton Mere provides access to the east of the park.<ref>[http://changingplaces.urbed.com/cgi-bin/main.cgi?org_code=87uytrsqp0gtgtgtgy&option=article&doc_id=238 Changing Places: Case Studies of the Urban Renaissance] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928060127/http://changingplaces.urbed.com/cgi-bin/main.cgi?org_code=87uytrsqp0gtgtgtgy&option=article&doc_id=238 |date=28 September 2007 }} The Urban and Economic Development Group (Retrieved 2 May 2007).</ref>

Southey Wood, once included in the Royal [[Rockingham Forest|Forest of Rockingham]], is a mixed woodland maintained by the [[Forestry Commission]] between the villages of Upton and Ufford.<ref>[http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/26329A43-D6EC-4B36-BAC2-E9F10A14A96C/0/SoutheyWood.pdf Woodland Wildlife Walk: Southey Wood] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626132917/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/26329A43-D6EC-4B36-BAC2-E9F10A14A96C/0/SoutheyWood.pdf |date=26 June 2008 }} Cambridgeshire County Council, 2004.</ref> Nearby, [[Castor Hanglands NNR|Castor Hanglands]], [[Barnack Hills & Holes NNR|Barnack Hills and Holes]] and [[Bedford Purlieus NNR|Bedford Purlieus]] [[national nature reserve (United Kingdom)|national nature reserve]]s are each [[site of special scientific interest|sites of special scientific interest]].<ref>[http://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/CastorHanglands2.pdf Castor Hanglands NNR] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611014922/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/CastorHanglands2.pdf |date=11 June 2007 }} [[English Nature]], 2004.</ref><ref>Barkham, John [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3038022 Review of] ''Bedford Purlieus: Its History, Ecology and Management'' by George Frederick Peterken and Robert Colin Welch (eds.) Journal of Biogeography, vol.3 no.3 (pp.322–323) September 1976.</ref> In 2002, the Hills and Holes, one of [[Natural England]]'s 35 spotlight reserves, was designated a [[special area of conservation]] as part of the [[Natura 2000]] network of sites throughout the [[European Union]].<ref>[http://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/BarnackleafletAW.pdf Barnack Hills and Holes NNR] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626132912/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/BarnackleafletAW.pdf |date=26 June 2008 }} [[English Nature]], 2004.</ref>