Collections - Peterborough Libraries & Archives

We hold more than 250 collections of original documents, manuscripts and photographs in our secure stores, occupying over 1km of shelving. Our collections have been accumulated from a wide range of sources, both official and private. Material in our collections includes:

Local authority records (including those of local parish and district councils);
Public records (such as court and coroner’s records);
Medieval charters;
Records of local businesses, societies and organisations;
School records;
Memoirs and family papers;
Maps, newspapers and photographs;
Electoral registers;
Literary manuscripts.

Our most significant collections include:

The administrative records of Peterborough City Council [ref. PCC] and its predecessors;

The records of the Peterborough Development Corporation [ref. PDC], which was responsible for the expansion of the city during the 1970s and 1980s;

Original manuscripts by local poet John Clare [ref. JCC];

Photographs and drawings of local building and ecclesiastical restoration firm John Thompson [ref. JTA];

The archive of Baker Perkins Ltd [ref. BP], a local engineering company;

The archive of Deacon’s School [ref. DEA], established in 1722 by a local wool merchant and philanthropist;

The Fox & Vergette Collection [ref. VER], containing details of property sales and auctions in and around Peterborough during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

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Kitchin Photograph Collection

The Kitchin Collection is a nostalgic collection of black & white photographs mostly taken in and around Peterborough during the 1960s by a lifelong resident of the city named Ramon Kitchin (1929-99). Mr Kitchin wanted to create a photographic record of the city and its surrounding villages before re-development changed them forever.

Today, the Kitchin Collection is managed by Peterborough Archives Service, which is based in Central Library. All enquiries regarding the photographs should be directed there.

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