Peterborough’s Garden House set to be demolished to make way for new homes

Plans have been submitted to Peterborough City Council for the Garden House within the Cathedral grounds to be demolished.

The site will be redeveloped to accommodate new residential houses.

For the past two years, the premises have been used by the Light Project to support homeless people. However, that project has now moved to new premises.

According to developers, Lioncross Peterborough LLP, the current detached two-storey building will be transformed into two separate buildings.

As per Peterborough’s Local Plan – which outlines future development in the city – the site originally had an allocation for 25 residential units.

However, that number has been reduced to eight, something that has “been welcomed” by both Historic England and the council’s conservation officer.

The eight houses will be set in two terraces of four.

Most will be three storeys in height, although three units will be two-storey houses to offer views of the Cathedral.

The houses will be designed in a traditional style, mirroring those typically used for other traditional existing dwellings within the Precincts.

The Garden House is situated in the north-west corner of the cathedral precincts. It was once part of the extensive gardens of the Deanery.

While the 1930s building is not listed in its own right, it is Curtilage Listed. This means its age and location are close to (within the curtilage of) a listed building, in this case, the Cathedral.

The site – which is accessed off Midgate, via Wheel Yard – will offer access and parking to the north of the terrace, as this is where the site is closest to the busier edge of the city.

Developers insist that “the existing car park will be set out as allocated parking.”

Gardens to the new houses will be situated on the south side of the terrace, facing the route of the sun. A communal area will sit between the gardens and the southern boundary.

Developers say the existing tree and woodland will be “maintained, improved and expanded.”

It is also envisioned that the development as a whole will “protect important views of the Cathedral.”