Longthorpe is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. Located two miles (3.2 km) west from the city centre, the area covers 1,390 acres (560 hectares). For electoral purposes it forms part of Peterborough West ward.
A 1st century Roman fort was established at Longthorpe, it may have been as early as around AD 44–48 but was certainly present by 61–62. The first phase covered 27 acres (11 ha), this was later replaced by another fort measuring 11 acres (4.5 ha).
The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1850 from the parish of Saint John the Baptist. The church of Saint Botolph is a plain building of coarse rubble, dating from the 13th century, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a western bell cote, containing one bell. In the chancel is a piscina and aumbry, two other brackets and a piscina are in the south aisle and two brackets in the north aisle. The church was restored in 1869 and will seat about 200 persons. The register dates from the year 1837; the earlier register is included in that of St. John the Baptist, Peterborough. Objections to controversial works were raised by the Victorian Society, Historic England and the Twentieth Century Society in 2017.
Oliver St John, a Lord Chief Justice who supported Parliament in the English Civil War, bought the lease of the manor of Longthorpe and built Thorpe Hall. In 1654 it was described by the author John Evelyn as "a stately place...built out of the ruins of the Bishop's Palace and cloisters." It is a Grade I listed building, situated in a Grade II listed garden open to members of the public throughout the year.
Longthorpe Tower, a 14th-century, three-storey tower and fortified manor house in the care of English Heritage, is also situated here. A Grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument protected by law, it contains the finest and most complete set of domestic paintings of the period in northern Europe. Exhibitions are held there from time to time by local artists.
Longthorpe contains a number of other listed buildings, including the old Manor House and the Holy (or St. Cloud's) Well to south-east of the Manor House.
Longthorpe Primary School is located in the village on Bradwell Road; secondary pupils attend nearby Jack Hunt School in Netherton.
Longthorpe was formerly a chapelry in Peterborough-St. John-the-Baptist parish, from 1 November 1908 Longthorpe was a civil parish in its own right (being formed from Peterborough Without) until it was abolished on 1 April 1929 and merged with Peterborough. In 1921 the parish had a population of 274.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Longthorpe is an area of the city of Peterborough, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Longthorpe is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Longthorpe Roman fort and settlement (0.3 km), Roman house N of Castor Mills (3 km), Castor village Roman sites (3.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Longthorpe. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Longthorpe