Cambridgeshire History On The Net

Information about Peterborough circa 1900

PETERBOROUGH is an ancient city and seat of a diocese, a parliamentary and municipal borough, polling place for the Northern division of the county, and is the head of the LIBERTY or soke of Peterborough, which is co-extensive with the hundred of Nassaburgh. The soke or liberty (A. S. Soc. a place privileged to hold local courts) has, under the "Local Government Act, 1888", been declared a separate "Administrative County," distinct from the remainder of Northamptonshire, and occupies a peninsula bounded by the counties of Lincoln, Cambridge and Huntingdon, on the north, east and south respectively, and comprises, besides Peterborough, about thirty parishes. During the Saxon period the lord of the soke of Peterborough had the power or liberty of holding a court and administering justice within its boundaries, and this system was subsequently continued by the Abbots of Peterborough, who either enforced in person, as lords, the observance of the ancient socage laws and customs, or appointed a deputy to act for them. On the establishment of quarter sessions c. 23 Edw. III. (1349-50), the separate jurisdiction of the soke was still maintained as distinct from that of the county of Northampton; and, except for Parliamentary purposes and matters relating to the militia, it is entirely independent of that county. The soke has its own magistrates, who are appointed by a Lord Paramount, or Custos Rotulorum, acting under a commission of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery, as well as under the ordinary commission, and the magistrates for the liberty still retain the power of hanging a criminal in cases of murder, which in fact they exercised so late as the year 1812. The Acts 60 Geo. III. (1819-20) and I Geo. IV. c.14 (1820-1), though giving the liberty Bench the power to commit (for murder only) to the county assizes, did not abridge their full rights of gaol delivery. The soke or liberty has also a separate rate, out of which all payments are made, and a separate police force, appointed by and under the control of the magistrates of the soke. In the provisions of the "Police Act, 1856" (19 & 20 Vict.), the "Weights and Measures Act, 1878." (41 &. 42 Vict. c. 49), and the "Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878," (41 & 42. Vict c. 74), the soke of Peterborough, like that of Ely, is in each instance treated as a separate county. Quarter sessions for the liberty are held at the Sessions Court in Peterborough, and petty sessions at the same place.

The city of Peterborough, which is the head of a poor law union and of a county court district, is mostly situated on the northern bank of the Nene, separating it from Huntingdonshire, 81 miles from London by the high road, and is at the junction of the four principal railways, 76 1/4 miles from London by the Great Northern, 102 1/2 by the Great Eastern, 110 1/4 by the London and North Western, the Midland communicating through its Leicester and Peterborough branch; the Midland and Great Northern joint railway gives access to Lynn and Norfolk, and another line of the Great Northern extends through Spalding and Boston to Grimsby and Hull; the borough is also 12 miles south-east from Stamford, 18 north from Huntingdon, 30 from Boston, 30 from Lynn, 30 from Grantham, 30 from Cambridge, 30 from Market Harborough, 20 from Wisbech, 40 from Bedford, 43 from Lincoln, 45 from Leicester, 45 from Northampton, and 50 from Nottingham. The bridge over the Nene at the end of Broad Bridge street is a structure of iron, erected in 1872 at a cost of over £6,000, and replaced an old wooden bridge; a general survey of the river Nene was made about 1850, by eminent engineers, for the purpose of making it navigable for vessels of 80 tons burden from Wisbech, and for the better drainage of the meadows from the periodical floods to which they are subject. Under the provisions of the "Local Government Act, 1894," the following new parishes have been formed: Peterborough Within and Peterborough Without, from the ancient civil parish of St. John the Baptist; Fletton Urban and Fletton R ruins until 966 when Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester, with the help of King Edgar, rebuilt the whole as, a Benedictine monastery, and the new structure having been completed and the village in which it stood surrounded by a wall of defence, the name of the place was changed in 970 to " Burgh" , and eventually from the dedication of the church to St. Peter, it was called, as now, Peterborough. The abbey, which was mitred, continued to be ruled by its abbots until the period of the Dissolution, when John Chambers, the 45th and last abbot, surrendered it to Henry VIII. March 1st, 1540, and received a pension of £260, but in the following year the monastic church was made the cathedral of a new diocese and endowed with a third part of the property of the abbey, amounting to £733 yearly (equal to about £14,600 of our money), the remainder being assigned to the king and the newly established chapter; Abbot Chambers was thereupon appointed the first bishop, and continued to hold the see until 1556. The principal monuments are the following:- in the south choir aisle, under a heavy Norman arch enriched with billet moulding is an effigy supposed to represent Abbot Andrew (1193 - 1200), vested and holding in the right hand his pastoral staff, in the left a book and treading on a dragon; here also are three other effigies of early abbots, all of local Alwalton marble and said to have been brought from the destroyed chapter house, which opened from the eastern alley of the cloisters; two of these are of Early Decorated character, and another mutilated figure is placed under the wall of the choir; under one of the arches at the back of the apse is a small monument of the early part of the twelfth century, consisting of an oblong mass of Barnack stone, bearing on each of the upright sides six much worn figures, under a circular-headed arcading, and apparently representing Our Lord and His Apostles; the sloping coped top of the stone is rudely carved with interlaced work, leafage and birds; on the adjoining wall is a monumental sarcophagus, with reclining effigy, to Thomas Deacon, 1721, founder of a charity school here and a benefactor to the city: westward is a shattered monument erected by Sir Humphrey Orm, kt. during his lifetime, for himself and his family, he died in 1721; in the north choir aisle is the effigy of an abbot of Early English date, and near it are memorials to Richard Cumberland D.D. bishop, 1691-1718; and White Kennett D.D. bishop, 1718-28; against the lower wall of the apse are placed together fragments of different monuments of various dates, the Perpendicular portions of which belonged to the shrine of St. Ebba, the instructress of St. Etheldreda of Ely; near the south doorway of the choir, a plain slab of black marble marks the spot where the remains of Mary, Queen of Scots rested from July 30th, 1587, until their removal and re-interment in Westminster Abbey, October 11th, 1612; near the grave of the queen was that of John Chambers, last abbot and first Bishop of Peterborough, 1541-57, whose effigy has been replaced above it; beneath the north door, immediately opposite, still rest the remains of Queen Catherine of Arragon, who was interred here with much state; above the tomb was formerly a slab of blue stone, simply inscribed "Queen Catherine, A.D. 1536," but in 1895 a slab of Irish marble was placed above the tomb, the cost being defrayed by the " Katherines" of England, Scotland, Ireland, America, and elsewhere; the inscription runs as follows: " Here lies the body of Katherine of Arragon, Queen of England, and first wife of Henry VIII. who died at Kimbolton Castle, on the 8th day of January, 1535-6, aged 49 years." On the north side of the great west door hangs a portrait of " Old Scarlett," the sexton, who buried both queens, and died in 1594, aged 98; it has annexed twelve rhyming couplets and above are the arms of the see. Of the six stained windows of the apse, two are filled with the fragments spared by the Parliamentary soldiery, the rest are modern; the communion table cove the abbot' s lodging, but now to the Bishop's palace; this is a structure of Early Decorated character, of two stages, the lowermost having a large and fine recessed arch, over which is a square mullioned window; the entrance is flanked by square shafted turrets with embattled parapets: in the centre of the gable and in the second stage of each turret is a canopied recess inclosing a statue: the knight's chamber over the gateway was the work of Abbot Godfrey de Croyland, 1319: immediately south of the nave of the cathedral is the cloister garth, still bounded by walls on the west and south; some of the arches of the original Norman cloister remain in the western wall, which has four doorways, once opening into an undercroft; at the south-west angle is a fine Norman doorway and in the south wall one of Early English date, together with indications of a cloister of the same period; of the third cloister, erected during the Perpendicular period, on the site of the earlier buildings, and destroyed by the Cromwellian soldiery, some portions of its lavatories remain on the south side: at a short distance south-east of the cloister are still standing the arcades of the hall of the infirmary, built by Abbot John de Caleto, 1248-62; portions of the chapel of St. Laurence, which extended eastwards from the hall, the infirmarer's table hall, adjoining the chapel on the north-east, and the sub-pnor's lodgings (now the archdeacon's house), also remain; the prior resided in what is now the deanery. The cathedral burial ground on the north is beautifully planted with evergreen trees and shrubs; and here are buried George Davys D.D. bishop, 1839-64; Francis Jeune D.D. bishop, 1864-68; Wm. Connor Magee D.D., D.C.L. bishop, 1868-91, and for a few months Archbishop of York, d. 5th May, 1891; Marianne, wife of Bishop Davys, 1858; John James D.D. canon, 1868; William Cape M.A. honorary canon, 1874; Owen Davys M.A. archdeacon of Northampton, 1875; and the Rev. Payne Edmunds LLB. 1861; between the buttresses of the eastern wall of the south transept are numerous coped tombstones, some of which have crosses on the, upper slab, but no inscriptions are visible.

The cathedral registers date from 1615.

The city now consists for ecclesiastical purposes apart from the Cathedral precinct, of five parishes, viz. St. John the Baptist's, St. Mark's, St. Mary's, Boongate, St. Paul's, New England and St. Botolph's, Longthorpe (the last four having been formed out of that of St. John the Baptist).

The church of St. John the Baptist, in the centre of the city, is a large and fine edifice of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of an embattled chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles with chapels, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 8 bells and a clock with chimes: in the north aisle is a very beautiful monument in marble, by Flaxman, to William Squire, d. 1826: there are mural monuments in both aisles to the Wyldbore family, from 1748 to 1781: this church previous to 1402 stood some distance east of the cathedral, but owing to frequent inundations was rebuilt on its present site and the building finished in 1407: the present edifice was restored in 1883, when the galleries were removed, an open oak roof constructed, the walls of the clerestory rebuilt, the interior refitted throughout with open seats and various other improvements effected at a cost of upwards of £11,000: the stained east window has been restored and there are stained windows at the east end of both aisles, presented by James Pears esq. at a cost of £925: two presented by the Broughton family, and three erected in 1896-7: the pulpit was given by Mr John Thompson: there are sittings for 1,500 persons. The register dates from 1558, and, except from the years 1644 to 1658, is perfect and in good preservation and contains some curious memoranda. The living is a discharged vicarage, net yearly value £350, including 208 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Peterborough, and held since 1891 by t five bays, aisles, west porch and a low central tower, with pyramidal roof, containing one bell: the interior of the church was decorated about 1884 at the expense of the Rev. C. R. Ball M.A. vicar 1869-86: a stained east window was erected in 1892: there are 500 sittings. The register dates from the year 1868. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £281, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Peterborough, and held since 1886 by the Rev. Arthur Fairclough Maskew M.A. of the University of Oxford.

All Saints' is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1891; the church, in Park road, erected in 1886, and enlarged in 1894 at a total cost of about £5,000, is a building of stone, in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, porch and a tower, and affords sittings for 500 persons. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1887; marriages 1891. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £150, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Peterborough, and held since 1887 by the Rev. Charles Richard Ball M.A. of Christ's College, Cambridge, hon. canon of Peterborough, rural dean of Peterborough (first portion), and proctor in Convocation.

The Catholic church, in Queen street, dedicated to the Holy Family and St. Peter and erected in 1856, was disused in 1896, when a new church, dedicated to " All Souls," was erected in Park road, at a cost of £4,000.

Christ church (Reformed Episcopalian), in Russell street, was erected in 1880, and seats 350 persons.

The Baptist chapel, Queen street, erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,500, is a spacious edifice of brick with stone dressings, seating 800 persons.

The Wesleyan chapel, Wentworth street, erected in 1874, is an edifice of white brick, ornamented with courses of red brick and stone dressings: at three angles of the building are towers with pyramidal stone spires and pinnacles: there are sittings for 1,000 persons. The Wesleyan Hall in Eastgate (formerly a Congregational chapel) was enlarged in 1896, and has 200 sittings.

The Congregational chapel, Westgate, erected in 1859, is an edifice of brick with stone dressings in the Gothic style. The double arched entrance portico is flanked by buttresses with spirelets, and the angles of the front are surmounted by pinnacles, each side of the building being relieved by five gables: over the portico is a memorial window, erected to Mr. and Mrs. William Lound, the former of whom died in 1873: there is another stained window to the Rev. A. Murray, minister here 28 years, d. 1882, and one commemorating the rebuilding in 1891.

Trinity Congregational chapel, Priestgate, built about 1864, occupies the site of a mansion, the stone frontage of which, surmounted by a lantern tower and spire, has been incorporated with the edifice: the chapel affords 600 sittings.

There is a Congregational mission hall, in Field street, with 200 sittings.

The Brethren have a meeting room in Park road.

The Calvinistic chapel, Chapel street, erected in 1855, has 300 sittings; a Sunday school was added in 1891.

The Christadeiphians meet in the Temperance hall, Lincoln road, built in 1883, and seating 375 persons.

The Salvation Army barracks, King street, were erected in 1891, and will hold 700 persons.

There are Primitive Methodist chapels in New road, built in 1862, and Cobden street, each seating 650 persons; and others in Midland road and Star lane, each seating 200 persons.

The Free Methodist chapel, Lincoln road, erected in 1866 has 350 sittings. The Baptist chapel in Harris street, built in 1896, will hold 400 persons.

The Cemetery, in Eastfield road, covers 9 acres, and was formed in 1850 as provided by the Peterborough Improvement and Cemetery Act of that year: it has two mortuary chapels and is under the control of a board consisting of the churchwardens of St. John's parish, and the overseers of the poor of Peterborough for the time being, and 11 members of the corporation.

The Guildhall, in the Market place, is an ancient build offered annually by examination; the present number of students is about 300.

A fountain, the gift of Mrs. Argles, was erected in the Market place in 1898.

The trade of this city chiefly consists of corn, malt, coal and timber, the manufacture of agricultural implements, elastic web, and boots and shoes, and the transit of live and dead stock and agricultural produce to London and elsewhere by the various railways; on the outskirts of the South Ward are very extensive brick works, and a large and increasing trade in bricks is here carried on. The market days are Wednesday for live stock, of which there is always an extensive supply, and Saturday for live and dead stock and general produce. The cattle market, for which an Act of Parliament was obtained in May, 1863, occupies an area of 5 acres and was opened in May 1867, under the management of the Peterborough Cattle Market Company Limited. The market was purchased by the Corporation from the Company in 1892, and is now under their direct management. The fairs are St. Peter's, on the 2nd Tuesday and Wednesday in July for wool, cattle and horses, held in the Cattle market, Market place and Bridge street; and Bridge fair on the 1st Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in October, held in some fields on the south side of the river, for wood, beasts, sheep, horses, stock and general purposes.

The principal hotels are the Angel, in Narrow Bridge street; the Grand, in Wentworth street; the Bull, in Westgate; the Great Northern, opposite the Great Northern railway station, and the Golden Lion, in Broad Bridge street.

Four weekly newspapers and one evening paper are published in the town, the " Peterborough and Huntingdonshire Standard," the " Peterborough Advertiser," the " Peterhorough Express," the " Citizen," and the " Peterborough Evening News."

A park of twenty-one acres was laid out in 1877, on the north side of the town, and is the property of the Peterborough Land Co. Limited; it is open to subscribers only.

The Public Dispensary and Infirmary in Priestgate, was originally established in 1815; the late buildings consisted of a mansion, presented by Charles William, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam, and converted into a infirmary in 1848. The building was destroyed by fire in 1884, but was reconstructed, at a cost of £4,500, from designs by Mr. H. M. Townsend, architect, and now contains 50 beds; various additions and improvements have been made, at a cost of £1,800; a new wing is now (1903) in course of erection; the number of inpatients for 1902 was 612, and together with out-patients, a total of 3,864 patients were treated and discharged during the year. The Institution is supported by subscriptions.

The City Sanatorium. in Bishop's road, was opened for infectious diseases in 1901, and contains 32 beds.

The almshouses for the poor comprise 44 in Cumbergate called the " town estates," and 26 in Westgate, known as " Wortley's" , with an income of about £400 a year. The almshouses, as well as the general charities, which afford annually about £15 for bread and fuel; £250 for distribution in money, and £480 for the general uses of the poor, are under the direction and management of a self-elected body of feoffees. The inmates of the almshouses are admitted irrespective of sex and receive about 40s each yearly from the charities. There are also eight aImshouses in the Minster precincts, which are part of the Cathedral establishment, and are supported from its endowments; they are occupied by eight aged women, each of whom receives £6 yearly.

The Bishop of Peterborough is lord of the manor of Boroughbury and the Dean and Chapter are lords of the manor of Peterborough. The Bishop, the Dean and Chapter and George Charles Wentworth Fitzwilliam esq. J P of Milton house, are the chief landowners.

The area of Peterborough Within civil parish, is 1,543 acres of land and 4 of water; assessable value, £118,978.

The area of Peterborough Without civil parish, is 4,663 acres of land and 17 of water; assessable 7,519
St. Mary (Boongate) (New Road) 6,774
St. Paul (New England) 5,157
St. Botolph (Longthorpe) 282

Parish. Clerks.
St. John the Baptist, James Wright (sexton), Providential place, Nelson street.
St. Paul's, New England, John R. Whyman, St. Paul's rd
.

NEW ENGLAND is a hamlet, within the municipal borough, 2 miles' north on the road to Market Deeping, and is the seat of the extensive engineering works of the Great Northern Railway Company. Here is a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1866, and a mission hall. For the church and schools, see Peterborough. A drinking fountain was presented in 1884 by the Rev. Charles Richard Ball M.A. vicar of St. Paul's, New England, 1861-87, and other members of the family, as a memorial to their parents.

The names of residents are included in Peterborough.

MILLFIELD is a hamlet, 1 1/2 miles north, almost wholly within the municipal borough and adjoining New England on the south-east and Dogsthorpe on the south-west. The Congregational chapel here was erected in 1879, and seats 150 persons. The Baptist chapel is in Harris street and Serjeant street.

The names of residents are included in Peterborough.

LONGTHORPE is an ecclesiastical parish, 2 miles west from Peterborough, formed in 1850 from the parish of St. John the Baptist. The church of St. Botolph is a plain building of coarse rubble, dating from the 13th century, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a western bell cote, containing one bell: in the chancel is a piscina and aumbry: two other brackets and a piscina are in the south aisle and two brackets in the north aisle: there is a tablet in the south aisle to Frances, eldest daughter of Sir Francis St. John bart. of this place, d. 1794: the church was restored in 1869, and will seat about 200 persons. The register dates from the year 1837; the earlier register is included in that of St. John the Baptist, Peterborough. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £106, including about 4 acres of glebe, with residence; in the gift of George Charles Wentworth Fitzwilliam esq. J.P and held since 1901 by the Rev. Edward Stirling O'Reilly ASSOC. K.C.L. Thorpe Hall, the seat of Lient.-Col. Charles Isham Strong J.P. stands in Thorpe Park, a small but beautiful demesne; the mansion is a handsome stone building in the Italian style, and was restored and two new lodges were added by the late Rev. W. Strong M.A. Thorpe Tower, now in the occupation of Mr. John Samworth, farmer, is an ancient fortified structure, dating probably from about 1200; on the north-east is a massive, square embattled tower, with heavy buttresses and a pyramidal roof. At the Manor House is an ancient well, called " Holywell," consisting of two chambers, from which a stream of water is continually flowing. The principal landowners are the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who are lords of the manor, George Chas. Wentworth Fitzwilliam esq. J.P. of Milton House, and Lient.-Col. Charles Isham Strong J.P. of Thorpe Hall. The area is 1,390 acres; the population in 1901 was 282.

Parish Clerk, John Thomas Roddis.

Post Office. Mrs. Hannah Nevell, sub-postmistress; parcels office, & postal orders issued. Letters through Peterborough arrive at 7 a.m. & 4.30 p.m. on weekdays; letters for callers at 7 a.m. Sundays. Collections, 8 a.m. & 3 & 9 p.m. on weekdays & 9 p.m. on Sundays. Nearest money order & telegraph office, Peterborough, 2 miles distant.

NEWARK is a hamlet of St. Mary's Peterborough, one mile and a half north-east-by-east from Peterborough; a portion of the hamlet was incorporated with the borough in 1874. A school church was erected here in 1873, at a cost of about £400, and has a chancel containing a stained window and a font: divine service is held by the clergy of St. Mary's, Peterborough, on Sundays. The Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1870, seats 100 persons. The land is flat and principally arabIe. The population, including Eastfleld, in 1891 was 388.

Letters are received through Peterborough. Wall