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The Misericords and history of Peterborough Cathedral,

St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew.

Peterborough has only a three 14th century misericords.

Corpus of misericords at Peterborough Cathedral

Please click on the thumbnails for larger images.

History or Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire.

An abbey was founded at Peterborough (Medeshamstede) as early as 655 AD, this abbey was largely destroyed in 870 by Viking raiders.  A few decades later, a Benedictine abbey was constructed by the bishop of Winchester which included a new, larger church and additional buildings.  These additional buildings were destroyed during the Norman siege of Peterborough in 1069 - it is worth noting that in the same year the Normans also destroyed Ripon Cathedral.  In 1116 the church was destroyed by fire.  

Unlike so many cathedrals which have been built in only  few years, the current Peterborough cathedral was started in 1118, but was not consecrated until 1238!  By 1193 the cathedral which was being built in the Norman (Romanesque) style was mainly complete.  As has been mentioned in other pages, styles however changed, so that the West Front and the western transept which were not completed until after 1193 were in the Gothic style.

The Nave roof, is the largest wooden roof of it’s period extant in Europe and dates from the 1240’s.  

With the dissolution in 1539 came closure of the abbey, however, Henry VIII re-opened the abbey as the cathedral, forming the diocese of Peterborough, to maximize his political power base.  

The civil war was far less kind to Peterborough - all of the stained glass, the altar and monuments were destroyed.  The choir stalls were also destroyed, but miraculously some of the misericords were saved.

The Official Peterborough Cathedral website.

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Click here for more 14th century misericords

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