Peterborough (Burgh, Burgus sancti Petri) is proved by its original name Medehamstede to have been a Saxon village before 655 when Saxulf, a monk, founded the monastery on land granted to him for that purpose by Penda, king of Mercia. Its name was altered to Burgh between 992 and 1005 after Abbot Kenulf had made a wall round the minister, but the town does not appear to have been a borough until the 12th century. The word borough has cognates in many languages e.g. German burg, Greek pyrgos; it originates from the Chaldean perach. For a fuller explanation, see borough. The burgesses received their first charter from "Abbot Robert" — probably Robert of Sutton (1262–1273).

Historically the dean and chapter, who succeeded the abbot as lords of the manor, appointed a high bailiff, and the constables and other borough officers were elected at their court leet, but the borough was incorporated in 1874 under the government of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Among the privileges claimed by the abbot as early as the 13th century was that of having a prison for felons taken in the soke and borough. In 1576 Bishop Scamble sold the lordship of the hundred of Nassaburgh, which is coextensive with the soke, to Queen Elizabeth I, who gave it to Lord Burghley, and from that time until the 19th century he and his descendants, marquesses of Exeter, had a separate gaol in Peterborough for prisoners arrested in the soke.

The trades of weaving and woolcombing were carried on in Peterborough in the 14th century. The abbot formerly held four fairs, of which two, one called St Peter's fair, granted in 1189 and later held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday in July, and the other called the Bridge fair, granted in 1439 and held on the first Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in October, still survive and were purchased by the corporation from the ecclesiastical commissioners in 1876.

Peterborough sent two members to parliament for the first time in 1547.

The philosopher Richard Cumberland (1631–1718) became bishop of Peterborough in 1691.

One of the key points on the development of Peterborough was the decision to route the main East coast railway line through the city. As a result, Peterborough developed into an important railway hub.

This page was last updated: 06 Oktober 2005

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL