The Oldest Buildings in Peterborough: Part One

Updated. This blogpost started with the destruction of a tree in Peterborough. A 600-year-old oak that would have been part of the ancient woodland of Grimeshaw Wood was chopped down by the council due to a perceived cost of repairing modern houses built too close to the tree. In short, it was cheaper to cut down a 600-year-old habitat than fix a modern house, so the tree had to go.

I was horrified by the decision and knew that should this have been a historic building, the scene would have looked very different indeed. I knew that St John’s church in the middle of Peterborough was built in 1402 and was therefore a similar age. In contrast to the tree being removed, the church benefitted from recent improvements to increase its visibility and the addition of green spaces (there were trees in planters, but they weren’t replaced when they died); the church is also grade I listed. To so carefully  curate a space around an old building is of course a wonderful thing, but to treat a living item of the same age as an annoyance and see only the expense in potential damage (when the church must cost a lot of money to maintain every year) is short-sighted at the very least. The sooner we can apply similar listed status to trees – the current tree protection orders are no better than the paper they’re written on – and respect them with the same integrity we do buildings, the better.

This led me to wonder what other buildings are the same age as the oak and how it fitted into the history of the area, so I set about making a list of the ages of local buildings. I realised very early on that for the task to be manageable I would need to reduce the date parameters for the task, so all of the buildings included in the list are pre-1700. This date ensures that only the oldest buildings are included, and they should (should!) be listed.

One of the issues with creating a list of buildings by date is that many of the buildings are mixtures of dates, having been rebuilt, added to, or adjusted. I therefore had to decide whether the building be dated based on one feature retained in it, or a significant amount of the structure? For example, St Augustine’s Church in Woodston features a Saxon wall and window with a handful of medieval features, but is largely a Victorian rebuild – should that be included?

I decided that for the building to be included it would need to contain a substantial structural element from before 1700. This could be part of the building e.g. a chancel or a hidden core and I would take my lead from the building’s listing. Some of the building dates are therefore supplemented with probably or possibly. That said, I expect the list to change as further information is gained. Buildings can move up or down the list as they are inspected, dendrodated, or researched; some might move onto it and some might fall off it. One of these buildings is Peterborough Museum. The building appears to be Georgian (pre-1816) but the core of the building is potentially older and some of the features in the cellar appear to be medieval. For now, I am leaving it out of the listing, with the understanding that if research, dendro, etc reveals otherwise, then I’ll add it in.

It is absolutely no surprise to anyone that the oldest buildings in the area are churches and ecclesiastic buildings. Centuries of devotion (and money) have ensured their survival and their listed status should (hopefully) support their continued survival. For ease, I have separated out religious and domestic buildings into two lists and this post will focus on religious buildings. The list revealed something I hadn’t appreciated before: the oldest and youngest churches (pre-1700) are both St John the Baptist! Location is key here; the oldest is St John’s Barnack and the youngest is St John’s Peterborough. Saxon elements are an integral part of the structure of St John’s Barnack, which also feature in second place All Saints’ Wittering. Third in the list is St Mary Wansford and fourth is St Mary and St Botolph in Thorney; all four have been used for worship for over a thousand years, which is quite incredible.

Peterborough Cathedral has ended up in 8th place behind three churches built in the Norman period. It is likely that this is the wrong location given that there were ten churches built in the Norman period or 12th century, and it doesn't take into account the first Saxon church on the cathedral site. Further research may help to narrow down the building dates of the churches and I expect the placing of these churches to change. Having a list of buildings means that conversations can be had, and experts can add their voices. It might also encourage people to go out and visit the churches to see what they can discover, for some of them contain research by locals in guidebooks and noticeboards inside the buildings (as well as the fascinating architecture) and that information can help guide the list too.

I’m going to write another blog on the domestic buildings because this is very long, so here’s the list of churches.

Church                                            Location                                        Date

St John the Baptist	Barnack	Saxon 1020
All Saints	Wittering	Saxon (and 12-14th)
St Mary	Wansford	Early Norman
St Mary and St Botolph	Thorney	1085-1108 (1638)
St Botolph	Helpston	Norman
St Kyneburgha	Castor	Norman
St Peter	Maxey	Norman
Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul, and St Andrew	Peterborough	1118
St John	Stanground	1150 (and 1300)
St John	Upton	12th (17th)
St Michael	Sutton	12th (15th and 19th)
St Benedict	Glinton	12th
St Pega	Peakirk	12th
St Mary	Marholm	12th and 13th
St Andrew	Northborough	Late 12th /early 13th
St John	Werrington	12th/13th
All Saints	Paston	1220
St Botolph	Longthorpe	1250
St Stephen	Etton	13th
Holy Trinity	Orton Longueville	1275
St Mary	Ufford	Late 13th
St Mary	Orton Wistow	Late 13th
St Margaret	Fletton	1300
St John the Baptist	Peterborough	1402

Note* most of these churches have a range of additions and alterations and straddle many time periods

Update. Having visited St John's Barnack, information inside the church states it dates from 1020. This doesn't change its position as the oldest building in the Peterborough area but it does provide a crucial date that can be compared to other buildings. An upcoming visit to All Saints Wittering may yet change that top position...