Yesterday I took my 2 children and my nieces to visit my Nan and Grandad who still live in the city where I grew up – Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. We went to the cinema in the morning, then took a trip into the city centre for lunch and a visit to Peterborough Cathedral for their Monsters of the Sea exhibition that takes place until 1st September 2024.
The cathedral is a stunning piece of architecture, and whilst I am not a Christian person in the slightest, I can certainly appreciate the beauty of the building itself. It is a place steeped in so much history, including being the burial site of the infamous Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII. My 11 year old daughter appreciated seeing this, she is a a big history buff and has of course studied the 6 wives at school. We are also looking forward to seeing Six the Musical soon (based on the six wives)- but I’ll save that for another post!
Once you have bought your tickets , which I personally feel is a bit pricey for what you got, but well, cost of living and all that, you enter the cathedral to see some activity tables with jigsaws, colouring, and some other crafty bits. This is a nice touch as it gives the younger kids things to do on top of seeing the exhibition itself. You can then proceed to the display which consists of large, animatronic sea creatures, ranging from prehistoric right through to modern day. The models themselves were brilliant, the movement was done well and the background sounds were realistic and carried superbly well in the cavernous cathedral. The acoustically refined space created a more immersive experience which made it more enjoyable for adults and children alike.
The information boards detailing facts about each creature were likewise very enlightening, although I’m sure anyone with younger children like me will agree that the fact sheets hold no interest for them. Therefore if visiting as a family, be prepared to be rushed around without being able to take in most of the written details, resulting in an experience which lasts all of 40 minutes if that.
It cost us almost £50 entry for 3 adults and 4 children, plus an activity book for the 7 year old for £1 which was a nice touch. The book included a ‘tick the box for the models you’ve found’ activity, which while great and for some kids might mean they really look at the displays, actually for me meant that my neurodiverse son just wanted to run around and tick the boxes in the fastest time possible! Obviously this is no one’s fault and it kept him busy, but it would have been nice to be able to take a bit more time to read the facts as that’s the sort of things I enjoy doing (I’m a learner at heart). Perhaps some more activities that involve finding the answers within the text would be beneficial so that they adults can enjoy a relaxed pace looking around.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience, and it was nice to still enjoy the main focus points of the cathedral itself, as well as the unique event they offered. I feel that without the children rushing us it would be worth the money, but with them simply looking and running off to the next one it was definitely over too quickly. Perhaps in the future more thought could be given to slowing younger clientele down so that the adults can really enjoy it to its fullest.
The cathedral offers many different experiences through the year, so if you are looking for things to do in Peterborough then it is definitely worth a look on the website to see whats on.
Ocean’s take (11 years of age)
When we first walked in it looked bland and not promising as there were only small activities and it was a bit dark, but as we moved on I warmed up. The animation and noises of the models were INCREDIBLE, and they didn’t just have sea creatures they have tombs and graves like: Catherine of Aragon’s grave, which was really cool to see. They had a series of information in the different areas, there were also some fun things like photo head hole things and they were also really realistic. It was amazing and fun, I would recommend it as a small visit, maybe not a big thing but it will be a good idea as a small activity. The gift shop is filled with crosses and Christianity jewelry and books due to it being a christian Cathedral, it is quite pricey and is disappointingly not the best but overall we still had fun!