Research Survey and GIS for Peterborough Cathedral Precincts

English Heritage summaries. 2007/2008

EH Project Number:	4733MAIN
Funded Unit:	The Chapter of Peterborough Cathedral

This project seeks to map the precincts of Peterborough Cathedral and its predecessor abbey using a geographical information system (GIS), which will capture not only an accurate ground plan but information drawing on published and unpublished archaeological, historical and antiquarian work. This will be publicly available within the Peterborough Historic Environment Record (HER), and eventually online.
 At Peterborough, the abbey was the spur for the development of the town and the abbot was the lord of both communities until the reformation. Because of its early (Saxon) foundation, its life as both abbey and cathedral, the wonderful preservation of its precincts (landscape and buildings), the richness of its archives, and its role in the formation, development and government of the town, Peterborough Cathedral offers an unparalleled opportunity to analyse both sacred and secular space, combining detailed buildings and archaeological work with a landscape approach.

The principal aims of the project are:

1) The fulfilment of a number of nationally and regionally identified priorities for research and resource management.

2) Accurate plans: As at many cathedrals, there has been no large-scale accurate survey of the precincts (or, indeed, the cathedral building itself) since the 1:500 Ordnance Survey of 1886. A modern digital survey will be easy to update, could be printed out at any scale and used by all interested parties. It will be actively curated by the Historic Environment Record (HER) officer for Peterborough.

3) The provision of a research resource: the addition of historic maps, documentary research and archaeological information from watching briefs and excavations will create a GIS of enormous value, which can be used by both professionals and public. It will be actively curated and updated and is likely to generate new questions, as well as addressing old ones.

4) Management of the archaeological resource, the historic landscape and the historic built environment: care for this historic environment involves a number of owners, statutory bodies and interested parties. The existence of a single centrally managed tool can be used for management as well as research, and will help to avoid repetitive work for assessments and evaluations.

5) Working in partnership: that this project is being undertaken jointly by the City, the Cathedral and the Church Commissioners, with technical expertise from Oxford Archaeology.

6) The public benefit, the local community and dissemination; The aim is to make the results available to all by embedding the GIS within the Peterborough Historic Environment Record, where it can be regularly updated. It will also be used by the Cathedral and Museum Education Officers and by the archaeology departments of Peterborough Regional College and Peterborough College of Adult Education.

This page was published on 06/05/2008