Arthur James Robertson (1879-1957)
Educated in Peterborough, Arthur James Robertson became an Olympic champion, international cross-country winner and 5,000 metres world-record holder before returning to a life in the city’s sporting community.
Search Results
Marjorie Anne Pollard OBE (1899-1982)
Raised and educated in Peterborough, Marjorie Pollard became an England hockey star, helped found the Women’s Cricket Association and broke new ground as the BBC’s first woman sports commentator.
Daphne Frances Jackson OBE (1936-1991)
Born and educated in Peterborough, Daphne Jackson became Britain’s first female Professor of Physics and created a pioneering fellowship scheme that has helped hundreds of researchers return to their careers.
Tommy Robson (1944-2020)
Tommy Robson became one of the most loved figures in Peterborough United history, making a club-record 559 first-team appearances and building a lifelong connection with the city.
What Is Someone From Peterborough Called?
What do you call someone from Peterborough? The answer is Peterborian. Discover the history of the word, from Medeshamstede and Petriburgian traditions to the modern civic identity of a city shaped by generations of arrivals.
The Greater Peterborough Master Plan
Published in 1970, the Greater Peterborough Master Plan turned New Town ambition into a blueprint for modern Peterborough, shaping the townships, Parkways, green spaces, employment areas and city centre we still know today.
The RAF Wittering Harrier Gate Guardian
Standing at the gate of RAF Wittering, Harrier GR7A ZD469 is a combat veteran and a powerful reminder of the more than forty years in which the station was known around the world as the Home of the Harrier.
BR Locomotive 73050 “City of Peterborough”
Built for British Railways in 1954 and saved from scrap in 1968, steam locomotive 73050 became City of Peterborough and helped inspire the preservation movement that created the Nene Valley Railway.
The Fletton Phorpres Brick
Pressed from the remarkable Oxford Clay beneath Fletton, London Brick Company’s Phorpres brick helped transform Peterborough into one of Britain’s great brickmaking centres and became part of millions of homes across the country.
Frank Perkins (1889 – 1967)
Frank Perkins helped turn a small Peterborough engineering business into one of the world’s great engine manufacturers. Discover the man, the machines and the city behind the Perkins name.
The Perkins P6 Diesel Engine
Introduced in 1937–38, the lightweight six-cylinder Perkins P6 helped prove that diesel engines could be compact, fast and practical, transforming a small Peterborough company into an international engineering name.
The Peterborough Bestiary
Lions, elephants, dragons, unicorns and the unforgettable bonnacon fill the Peterborough Bestiary, a spectacular medieval manuscript in which every creature could become a lesson about faith, morality and the meaning of creation.
The Peterborough Psalter
Written in shimmering gold and blue around 1300, the Peterborough Psalter left Peterborough Abbey in 1318 and passed through the hands of popes, queens, kings and dukes before reaching Brussels.
The Must Farm Wheel
Discovered beneath the Fenland mud at Must Farm, this exceptionally complete Bronze Age wooden wheel reveals sophisticated woodworking, wheeled transport and a community connected far beyond its watery settlement.
A Peterborough Ware Vessel
More than 5,000 years ago, Neolithic communities at Fengate made richly decorated pottery whose discovery would eventually give an entire British archaeological tradition its name: Peterborough Ware.
The Sennianus Mortarium
A fragment of Roman kitchenware preserves one of Peterborough’s most remarkable signatures: Sennianus, a potter who wrote his name and the name Durobrivae on a mortarium nearly 1,800 years ago.
The Water Newton Treasure
Discovered at Roman Durobrivae near Peterborough in 1975, the Water Newton Treasure is an extraordinary hoard of Christian silver that reveals a wealthy community worshipping beside the River Nene around 1,700 years ago.
The Hedda Stone
Carved around AD 800, the mysterious Hedda Stone is one of Peterborough’s greatest Anglo-Saxon survivals, linking the modern city with the monastery of Medeshamstede that stood here more than 1,200 years ago.
The Black Book of Peterborough (Liber Niger)
Begun at Peterborough Abbey in the 12th century, the Black Book of Peterborough preserved the monastery’s lands, rights and memory, along with an extraordinary near-contemporary text of Magna Carta.
The Peterborough Chronicle
Written at Peterborough Abbey in the 12th century, the Peterborough Chronicle records medieval England while capturing the English language changing from Old English towards Middle English.
The City That Looked Harder
What connects a Helpston poet, an Eyebury farmer and a Farcet schoolteacher? John Clare looked at the landscape, Alfred Leeds beneath it and George Alcock into the sky. Together they reveal a remarkable Peterborough habit: looking harder than everyone else.
Henry Penn (1685–1729)
Henry Penn was the Peterborough bellfounder whose Bridge Street foundry produced more than 250 bells, including the great 1709 ring for Peterborough Cathedral. Discover the craftsman whose work still sounds across the city today.
Thomas Hunter: The Lonely Anzac (1880-1916)
Sergeant Thomas Hunter, the Lonely Anzac, died in Peterborough after being wounded at Pozières in 1916. Discover how the city honoured this Australian soldier with an extraordinary funeral, lasting memorials and an annual tradition of remembrance.
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
Mary, Queen of Scots was executed at nearby Fotheringhay in 1587 and given a magnificent royal funeral at Peterborough Cathedral, where she remained buried for 25 years.