Parnwell is one of the newer areas of Peterborough, built beside the old village of Newark and separated from the rest of the city by the Frank Perkins Parkway. The recent addition of industrial and commercial buildings to the east of Parnwell way is revealing that Parnwell has a long past.
Evidence has been found of people living and travelling through the Parnwell area since the Mesolithic period, around 8-10,000 years ago, when Britain was still connected to mainline Europe. Archaeological remains have been found between Parnwell Way and Eyebury Road that suggest people lived in and used the area during Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Medieval times; evidence for other time periods hasn't been found... yet. Evidence has included ditches belonging to field systems, ring ditches, a round house, pots, urns, cremations, arrow heads, an axe head and animal remains. A Roman site, where the Tesco Distribution Centre is at present, contained evidence of corn drying, a quern stone, a brooch and tegula (roof tile), as well as human and animal remains suggesting that people were living there in the Roman period.