Peter’s Field is an epic musical chronicle that tells the story of one of the most important days in working class history. 

On 16th August 1819, 60,000 people gathered in the centre of Manchester. Many had walked miles to be there from all across Lancashire and further afield. They went to hear the famous radical speaker Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt who called for working people to have the vote. They were unarmed and peaceful. Local magistrates sent in the yeomanry cavalry and 15th Hussars to disperse the crowd and arrest Hunt. At least 18 people were killed and hundreds injured in the murderous scenes that followed. Women were deliberately targeted by the yeomanry and many of the victims recognised their assailants. It became known as the Peterloo Massacre. The magistrates and military were completely exonerated and it would be 100 years til working people had the vote.

Peter’s Field is born from years of research and comprises 19 original songs by Cooney performed with Eliza Carthy and Sam Carter alongside a compelling spoken narrative derived from 100s of eyewitness accounts. It’s a story of politics, protest and, ultimately, people.

What people have said so far

‘Peter’s Field is an astonishing work’ Songlines

‘Peter’s Field is the most powerful evocation yet of Peterloo’

Professor Robert Poole, author of Peterloo:the English Uprising