Peterborough Abbey Precinct and Burh (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Peterborough.
In the historic county of Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough.
Modern Authority of Peterborough; City of.
1974 county of Cambridgeshire.
Medieval County of Soke of Peterborough.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL193984
Latitude 52.57260° Longitude -0.24188°

Peterborough Abbey Precinct and Burh has been described as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site, and also as a Urban Defence although is doubtful that it was such.

There are major building remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Line of C10 stone burh defence possible found on geophysical survey. Bond puts the defences in his 'of no post-Conquest significance' list. The 'burh' is also considered as a large 'fortified' precinct of the wealth abbey and the urban development of Peterborough took place outside these defences to the north east and west of the Abbey.

Great Gate (Outer Gate, Marsh Foregate) Erected by Abbot Benedict circa 1174-94, altered 1302-7. Chamber above originally a Chapel to St Niicholas. Norman work in the archway with roll moulding to arch and columns with scalloped capitals, blank wall arcading above the doorways to North and South and the rib vaulting. Upper part of doorway is C14 with blank arcade of 5 lights containing 2 windows with cusped heads. Crenellated parapet and 2 flanking turrets. (Listed Building Report)

Bishop's Gate. Mainly built circa 1220 by Robert of Lindsay. Square turrets project at quoins, having crenellated parapets. 3 storey height. Each of the 2 turrets has a trefoil headed niche containing a statue of an abbot and prior, one of which may represent Godfrey of Crowland. Centre is gabled, containing a statue of King Edward, seated, above windows of 4 and 8 lights, strings between storeys. Centre archway has 4 orders of colonnettes with moulded capitals. Inside tyre archway, the main chamber has blank arcading and quadripartite vaulting. The room above the entrance, known as the Knights' Chamber, was formerly decorated with pictures of the knights who met there. The windows have been altered in Jacobean style. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1003264, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number pe140
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1161429 , 1126939
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 364268; 364272; 364043.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 51583; 51585.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
  Peterborough City Council
  Peterborough Cathedral offical site
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 275
  Blanchard, Ian, 2007, Twelth Century: A neglected Epoch in British Economic and Social History (Newlees E-book) p. 162-3 (plan) online copy
  Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 267 Reilly, Lisa, 1997, An Architectural history of Peterborough Cathedral (Oxford University Press)
  Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 92-116 online copy
  Serjeantson, R.M., Ryland, W. and Adkins, D. (eds), 1906, VCH Northamptonshire Vol. 2 p. 455- online copy
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86
  Selkirk, A., 1983, 'Peterborough' Current Archaeology Vol. 80 p. 182-3
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 54 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 57 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 59 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 59 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 67 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 61 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 53 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 60 online copy
  Payne, A.W., 1996, Bishop's Palace Garden Peterborough Cathedral, Cambs Report on Resistivity Survey (Ancient Monuments Laboratory Report 55/00) online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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