The project planned to improve the appearance of several of the galleries and improve facilities for visitors. The work included three new education rooms, the refurbishment of four principal galleries, improving the condition of the building, and providing a new reception space and shop.

Peterborough Museum, found in 1881, moved in 1929 to a Grade II listed Georgian house that operated as the first public hospital in the city. Part of the project involved opening up the late Victorian operating theatre to visitors for the first time, along with other areas of the museum that were previously inaccessible.

The museum’s collections include important collections of Jurrasic marine reptiles, archaeology, Napoleonic prisoner of war work, and the manuscripts of John Clare.