For more than 150 years, through various owners and two world wars, the Great Northern Hotel has stood proud and strong as an elegant landmark of Peterborough.

The hotel opened on April 1, 1852 and had cost the Great Northern Railway (GNR) £2,500 to build.

It was designed by architect Henry Goddard.

In its early life, the ownership of the hotel was linked with that of the nearby railway.

To start with, it was GNR policy to put the management of its hotels out to tender, so staff were employed by the manager rather than the train company.

However, after a number of disputes over the extension of the lease and the terms of the rental, the company took over management itself by the 1860s.

In 1857 the hotel enjoyed a prestigious visitor – although he did not enjoy his experience.

American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne stayed overnight and said it was "wretched and uncomfortable".

However, when the management changed, the standards began to improve.

The hotel's archive gives a fascinating insight into life there a few years later, in the early 20th century. It features a record of information given by Laura Beken, a chambermaid, who started working there in 1935 when she was 25.

She recalled that her normal working day ran from 6am until 10pm, with two hours off during that time.

Unmarried staff at the hotel lived in, with women accommodated above the kitchen – a popular spot as it was always warm in winter.

Chambermaids had to buy their own uniforms, which consisted of a blue dress for the mornings and a black one for the afternoons.

Wages were 10 shillings a week, including accommodation and meals – for the latter staff had the pick of whatever was left on the hotel menu.

In the late 1930s only the bathrooms had radiators. The front rooms were for single use and were too small to have fireplaces. In winter they could be freezing cold and guests were provided with hot water bottles.

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Laura worked at the hotel until it closed on the outbreak of war in September 1939.

It was closed to the public during the war and occupied by staff from the railway company's King's Cross office.

During the war the two main bedroom wings are thought to have been reserved for VIPs, possibly those forced to stay in order to avoid going to London during the blitz.

The hotel reopened in November 1949 after having had some repairs carried out.

In the 1950s it was a popular venue for wedding receptions and among those who celebrated there was comedian Ernie Wise.

In the 1970s, the building was extended to provide more banqueting and conference facilities as well as extra bedrooms.

For a period in the 1980s, it appears to have hosted pub theatre and even had its own theatre group. The first performance at the hotel took place in June 1982.