Peterborough

"PETERBOROUGH, a parish and a market town, city, and parliamentary borough, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of the liberty of Nassaburgh, or Peterborough, county Northampton, 40 miles N.E. of Northampton, and 81 N.W. of London by road, or 76 by the Great Northern, 102½ by the Great Eastern, and 110 by the London and North-Western lines of railway, each of which companies have important stations in the town; there are also branch lines to Blisworth and Stamford. It is an ancient and well-built city, situated on the northern bank of the river Nene, which here divides Northamptonshire from Huntingdonshire, and is crossed by a wooden bridge. In the Saxon times it was called Medeshamsted and Medeswelhamsted, from a whirlpool in the river Nene, then the Aufona, and owes its origin to the celebrated Benedictine abbey, founded in the middle of the 7th century by Peada, son of Penda, fifth king of Mercia, in atonement for having murdered his own sons, for their attachment to Christianity, prior to his own conversion. About 870 the monastery was burnt by the Danes, who had laid waste the adjoining country, and continued in a ruined state for a century, when it was restored by Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, under the auspices of King Edgar and of Adulph, the king's chancellor, who appropriated all his wealth to the rebuilding of the monastery, of which after its restoration he was made abbot. About this time, the name Medeshamsted was superseded by that of Burgh, otherwise Gildenburgh, from the wealth and splendour of the new structure, and subsequently was called Peter-burgh, or Peterborough, from St. Peter, to whom the church was dedicated. In the reign of William the Conqueror, Hereward-le-Wake, the last of the Anglo-Saxon warriors, who distinguished themselves by their resistance to the Normans, hearing, whilst in exile, that the Conqueror had given away his paternal lands to a Norman, set sail from Flanders, and putting himself at the head of the insurgents of the fens, attacked and plundered the abbey, and burnt the village which was rising around it. In 1116 the monastery and village were greatly injured by fire, but were gradually restored, and the present cathedral commenced by Abbot Salisbury, and further completed by Abbot Martin in 1144. At this period the town, which had previously stood on the eastern side of the monastery, was removed to the situation it now occupies, and the monastery raised to the rank of a mitred Benedictine abbey, the abbots being summoned to Parliament in the reign of Henry III. The town appears also to have rapidly risen in importance, for we find it returning two members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I. At the Dissolution, the revenue of the abbey was estimated at £1,972 7s. OM., and the conventual church made a cathedral in 1541 by Henry VIII., who selected Peterborough as the seat of one of the new bishoprics. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., the parliamentary forces, under the command of Cromwell, destined for the siege of Croyland, were stationed in the town, where they committed numerous depredations-defacing the monuments in the cathedral, and pulling down part of the cloisters, the chapterhouse, and the episcopal palace, which were sold by order of the Parliament. The Lady-chapel was shortly after taken down by the townsmen, to whom the cathedral had been granted for a parish church. In 1790 an Act of Parliament was obtained for carrying out various local improvements, which have greatly modernised the town; and in 1834 about 60 houses of an inferior class were destroyed by fire. The streets, which are regularly laid out close upon the bank of the river, are well pave lighted with gas, and well edificed, many of the houses being modern. The environs have many villa residences. The principal public buildings are the cathedral, to be described presently, the sessions house, and gaol, in the Norman style of architecture, erected in 1842, at a cost of £10,000, borrowed on security of the rates, and comprising the sessions court, magistrates' room, jury room, and house of correction for the liberty of Peterborough, with the governor's residence in the centre, upon the plan of the Model Prison at Pentonville, London; the corn exchange, erected in 1848, on the site of the old theatre in Church-street, is in the Italian style, containing a market room, lighted by a lantern roof, supported by stone Corinthian pillars, and having a gallery at one end; the dispensary and infirmary, rebuilt in 1845, is situated in New Town; the mechanics' institute in Wentworth-street has a good library and newsroom; the assembly rooms, in Cumbergate, are large and well lighted; there are besides a registry for wills and diocesan documents lately erected in the minster precincts, a savings-bank, public library over the S. porch of the parish church, four commercial banks, gas and water works. The bounds of the city comprise only 1,430 acres; but the borough, since the passing of the Reform Act, is co-extensive with the parish, comprising, besides the ancient city, the Minster Close, which is extra parochial, and the townships of Dogsthorpe, Eastfield, Longthorpe, and Newark. The population in 1851 was 8,673, and in 1861, 11,732, showing an increase of 3,059 in the decennial period. It has returned two members to parliament since the reign of Edward I., the chief influence being with Earl Fitzwilliam of Milton Abbey. Until recently the civil government was vested in the custos rotulorum of the liberty, assisted by seven magistrates and a high bailiff, who was returning officer, the last named being appointed by the dean and chapter, who are lords of the manor, but is now administered solely by the magistrates appointed by Earl Fitzwilliam, as lord of the hundred or liberty. The jurisdiction extends only over the parish of Peterborough, and constables and other officers are still chosen at the court leet, which is held annually. General sessions for the peace are held quarterly in the sessions court at the gaol, and petty sessions weekly on Saturday. The trade carried on at Peterborough is chiefly in corn, malt, coal, timber, lime, bricks, stone, and in the transmission of live stock and agricultural produce by the several lines of railway, which have greatly increased the commercial prosperity of the town. A large steam flour mill has been recently erected by Earl Fitzwilliam, and the works in connection with the several lines of railway are extensive. The Nene is navigable only for boats, but a general survey has lately been made with the hope of rendering it navigable for vessels of larger burden, and for the better drainage of the surrounding meadows, which are periodically inundated. As the seat of a bishopric Peterborough ranks as a cathedral city, but consists of only one parish, that of St. John the Baptist, and the ecclesiastical district of St. Mark, the former containing a population of 11,497, and the latter one of 3,170. The ecclesiastical establishment consists of the bishop, a dean, the two archdeacons of Northampton and Leicester, six prebendaries, and four minor canons. The diocese, as originally constituted by Henry VIII., extended over Northamptonshire and Rutland, then taken out of Lincoln diocese, but it has recently been extended by the addition of Leicestershire, and now contains the archdeaconries of Northampton and Leicester, with 17 rural deaneries, and about 504 benefices. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter, is a cruciform structure of Norman and Gothic architecture, remarkable for its massiveness and for the magnificence of its western front, 156 feet broad, which is considered the finest example of Early English Gothic now remaining. It consists of a chancel built by Abbot Martin do Vecti in 1140; a nave semicircular at the eastern end, built by Abbot Benedict towards the close of the 12th century; side aisles built about the same period, but which have subsequently been carried out square; a great transept built by Abbot William de Vaudeville in 1160-1175, who also erected a portion of the central tower, 150 feet high, which rises from four arches in the centre of the edifice and forms a lantern. At the western end of the nave are smaller transepts, over one of which is a tower supported by angular buttresses and surmounted with pinnacles, while at either extremity of the western front is a turret 156 feet high, flanked at the angles by clustered shafts and pinnacles and crowned with spires. The whole of the fitting up of the choir, which is supposed to be the oldest part of the building, is in the style of the time of Edward III., and the woodwork is of oak richly ornamented. A new choir and altar screen were erected in 1830 of carved stone, and the latter ornamented with spiral turrets. There are few monuments, shrines, or chantry chapels, most of the tombs of the bishops having been battered by the Puritans; there are, however, two monuments of interest-the tomb of Queen Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII., and the marble slab over the doorway leading from the choir into the S. aisle, which marks the spot where the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots was buried, previous to the removal of her remains to Westminster Abbey. On the wall immediately behind the western entrance hangs a portrait of old Scarlet the sexton, who buried the above named queens, with an appropriate epitaph commemorating the circumstance. On the western side of the cathedral is the Norman Abbey gateway, with some remains of the cloisters and ancient monastic buildings, having in the midst of them the tower gateway, leading to the bishop's palace, and from this court another gateway, built by Abbot Kirton in 1515, and rich in ornament, leading to the deanery and the ancient cemetery of the citizens, which adjoined the cathedral, but is now closed, a new burial ground having been formed, under the Extramural Burial Act, on the western side of the city. Besides the Cathedral there is a large parish church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and situated near the centre of the city. It is a stone structure, with a square tower surmounted by pinnacles, and containing a peal of six bells and a clock, with musical chimes every third hour, changing every day in the week. The interior contains a tomb by Flaxman, and an altar-piece, the "Transfiguration," painted by Sir R. Ker Porter. The living is a vicarage* value £500, in the archdeaconry of Northampton and diocese of Peterborough, in the patronage of the bishop. There are chapels for Roman Catholics, General and Particular Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists. The Cathedral Grammar, or Chapter school, founded by Henry VIII., and situated within the minster precincts, has an income from endowment of £100, for the free education of 20 boys, who have a preference as candidates for five scholarships and a fellowship in St. John's College, Cambridge. Another school, founded by Thomas Deacon in 1721, has an endowment of £50 per annum, besides 6 acres of land and certain premises. There are also National and infant schools, the former attended by upwards of 500 children. The charities amount to above £1,000 a year, of which the town estate produces £380; one of the charities is under the direction of a self-elected body, called feoffees. The almshouses are designed to accommodate 50 poor persons, and 17 have been recently rebuilt. A hospital for lepers was founded here in the reign of King Stephen, and dedicated to St. Leonard, and another hospital in 1180 by Abbot Benedict, who dedicated it to St. Thomas-a-Becket, whose life he wrote. The Poor-law Union of Peterborough comprises 39 parishes or places, of which 19 are in the county of Northampton, a like number in that of Hunts, and one in that of Lincoln. It is also the seat of superintendent registry and new County Court districts. Among the eminent natives of the town were Abbot Benedict, mentioned above; Abbot John of Peterborough, an English historian of the 14th century; Bishop Chambers, the last Abbot; Gunton, the historian of the Cathedral; Sir John Hill, a popular writer of the 18th century; and Paley, the celebrated divine and moralist. The title of Earl of Peterborough, now extinct, was bestowed on the family of Mordaunt by Charles I., and was held by Charles the great Earl of Peterborough and Monmouth, in the reigns of Anne and George I. The market days are Wednesday for live stock, and Saturday for live and dead stock and general produce. Fairs are held on the 10th July and 2nd October, the former, which is held in the town, is chiefly for timber, horses, and cattle, and the latter, which is held on the Huntingdonshire side of the river, is for horses, beasts, sheep, timber, and general purposes."

"DOGSTHORPE, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Peterborough, soke of Peterborough, in the county of Northampton, 1½ mile N.E. of Peterborough. The chapel-of-ease is dedicated to St. Botolph. There is also a small chapel for Dissenters."

"EASTFIELD, a hamlet in the parish of Peterborough, liberty of Peterborough, county Northampton, 1½ mile N.E. of Peterborough."

"LONGTHORPE, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Peterborough, liberty of Peterborough, county Northampton, 2 miles W. of Peterborough, its post town. It is situated on the river Nen, and the line of the Northampton and Peterborough railway passes through it. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £80. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a very old stone edifice."

"NEWARK, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Peterborough, soke of Peterborough, county Northampton, 1½ mile N.E. of Peterborough. The chapel which formerly stood here was dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, but has long been in ruins."