Six reasons to love Peterborough
Peterborough is home to our brand-new campus, and there are plenty of things we love about this bijou city. Here are just six of them.
A medieval marvel
Historic Peterborough is dominated by its imposing Norman cathedral. Originally founded as a monastic community in 654AD, building started on a new church in 1118. It became the burial place of two queens – Katherine of Aragon and Mary, Queen of Scots – and has been visited over the centuries by numerous monarchs. King John stopped by in 1216, and is thought to have left a draft copy of Magna Carta behind. Careless.
Ancient landscapes
It's possible to get a sense of life in prehistoric Peterborough at Flag Fen Archaeology Park, on the fringes of our modern-day city. Wander round a Bronze Age village, sit in reconstructed roundhouses, and wonder at the mysterious kilometre-long causeway, brilliantly well preserved in its waterlogged landscape. Oh, and don’t forget to check out England’s oldest wheel. It dates to 1,300BC and looks great for its age.
Image credit Midnightblueowl
Sporting fixtures
Peterborough United – famously known as the Posh – have been playing football in the city for more than 80 years. Almost as famously, when the club tried to register its nickname as a trademark in the early 2000s, a certain Victoria ‘Posh Spice’ Beckham was reported to have lodged an objection. But the Posh played on, and continue to be a fixture on Peterborough's London Road.
Image: Peterborough United's South Family Stand beginning to fill up; credit Rodney Burton
Gateway to the Fens
The Fens, a huge coastal plain characterised by low-lying marshlands and enormous skies, dominate the landscape of eastern England. A stone’s throw from Peterborough you’ll find Holme Fen Nature Reserve, which covers 612 acres and is home to a beguiling pure birch woodland. It's said to be the lowest point in England: as the rich peat that once covered the Fen dried out, the ground level at Holme Fen has lowered by four metres since 1852.
Photo credit Roger
Stately homes
The word ‘stately’ might have been invented for Burghley House. It’s a gobsmacking Elizabethan manor house – originally built for William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth I (how’s that for a job title?). It’s still home to Cecil’s descendants, and boasts ‘Capability’ Brown parkland, a deer park, and the intriguingly named Historical Garden of Surprises. Just half an hour from Peterborough and perfect for a day trip.
Photo credit p.a.m.K
Cosy cottages
A few miles outside Peterborough you’ll find the village of Helpston, home to the picturesque John Clare Cottage. Born in 1793, Clare is regarded as one of England’s finest Romantic poets. Inspired by his surroundings, he penned odes on the delights of the English countryside and a rural upbringing. His childhood home has been restored using traditional building materials, and features a colourful cottage garden. Wake up and smell the foxgloves.
Photo credit John Clare Cottage