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Peterborough (England) is a city in Cambridgeshire, central England, on the Nene River. The city, which was formed in 1974, embraces a large agricultural area and lies on the western edge of The Fens, a drained swampland. It is an important railroad junction and an industrial and farm market center. Manufactures include machinery, electrical equipment, bricks, and processed foods. Of note in the city are Saint Peter's Cathedral, begun in 1118, and Hedda Stone (circa 800), an important piece of Anglo-Saxon sculpture. A Benedictine abbey was built on the site of the present-day city in 655, and the village that grew around it was called Medeshamstede. The abbey was destroyed by the Danes in 870; it was rebuilt and then sacked in the 11th century, and finally destroyed by fire in 1116. From 1884 to 1965 the town was administrative center of the Soke of Peterborough, a former English county.
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