The British Archaeological Association Conference held at Peterborough in 2015 provided a welcome opportunity for a new analysis of the cathedral’s architecture, sculpture and artistic production, and a reassessment of the relationship between the former abbey, the city and its institutions, and the Soke over which it held sway.
This ambitious volume casts new light on the Roman occupation of the Nene valley, and the rich Anglo-Saxon sculptural and manuscript context that preceded the construction of the present cathedral, as well as exploring the vital Romanesque tradition of the Soke and the essential contribution of the Barnack quarries.
But inevitably the most exciting new disclosures concern the church: its high-quality building campaigns during the 12th to 16th centuries, its abbots’ tombs and the reconstruction of the lost 14th-century High Altar screen from descriptions and loose fragments. Peterborough has attracted the attention of antiquarian scholars since its sacking by Cromwell’s men during the Civil War, and as its secrets are gradually revealed it continues to stimulate the historical imagination.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Stephen G. Upex, Roman Buildings in the Lower Nene Valley
Chapter 2: Penny Coombe, Kevin Hayward and Martin Henig, A relief depicting two dancing deities and other Roman stonework from Peterborough Cathedral
Chapter 3: Richard Gem, The Anglo-Saxon Abbey of Peterborough: A Review of the Evidence
Chapter 4: Rosemary Cramp, Anglo-Saxon Sculpture of Peterborough and its Region
Chapter 5: Jackie Hall, Contexts of Discovery of Roman and Anglo-Saxon Stone
Chapter 6: T. A. Heslop, The ‘Missal’ of Robert of Jumièges and Manuscript Illumination at Peterborough c. 1015–1035
Chapter 7: Paul Everson and David Stocker, Potestas Petri: Barnack and Peterborough in the Middle Ages
Chapter 8: Jackie Hall, Abbey and Town: Post-Conquest Topography and Lay Access
Chapter 9: Eric Fernie, Peterborough Abbey: the Norman Church
Chapter 10: Peter Fergusson, Architecture during the rule of Abbot Benedict (1177–94)
Chapter 11: Harriet Mahood, Coming and Going: The Great Gate of Peterborough Abbey as a Zone of Interaction
Chapter 12: Julian Luxford, The Figure Sculpture of the West Front of Peterborough Cathedral and Its Setting
Chapter 13: Catherine Oakes, What Is the Subject Carved on the Socle in the West Doorway of Peterborough Abbey?
Chapter 14: Ron Baxter, A Few Ancient Recumbent Effigies of Abbots, Not One of Which Occupies Its Original Position
Chapter 15: Stuart Harrison, The Fourteenth-Century Great Altar Screen of Peterborough Cathedral
Chapter 16: Lisa Reilly, The Trinity Chapel at Peterborough Cathedral
Chapter 17: Brother Simon of Yarwell (with introduction, translation and notes by T. M. Halliday), The Palm Sunday Procession, from the Peterborough Abbey Consuetudinal, as a Source for Topographical Identification
Chapter 18: Francis Woodman, The New Building at Peterborough: Questions of Attribution, Date and Status
Chapter 19: Alexandrina Buchanan, ‘Valuable Matter’ versus ‘Local Twaddle’: Peterborough Cathedral and Architectural Expertise in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 20: Claudia Marx, Peterborough Cathedral in the Late-Victorian Period: The Central Tower and West Front Controversies
