Peterborough – Cowgate Parish Burial Ground

I’ve walked past this plaque lots of times on Cowgate when heading from the railway station to the city centre, but I’ve never noticed it before. It must be the excitement of walking into Peterborough and so I’ve rushed by it at speed.

There is now absolutely nothing left of the graveyard, as can be seen from the side by side map above. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the graveyard was finally removed to build this lovely big roundabout to serve the needs of the local population. If that wasn’t good enough, part of the former graveyard is now also used as a car park. What a wonderful piece of remembering the dead that was….

Incidentally though, this site is said to be one of the most haunted areas in Peterborough. There was some bodysnatching which took place here in the 1820s and the reports of ghostly sightings has been put down to that. Although if I was a ghost, I think I’d like to find somewhere more fitting to stay than a roundabout in Peterborough.

There’s lots more information about the parish burial ground at https://www.peterboroughcivicsociety.org.uk/plaques_blue2.php#ParishBurial.