diff --git a/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/mantid/api/src/Exports/IPeakFunction.cpp b/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/mantid/api/src/Exports/IPeakFunction.cpp
index 1164cfe661d7..0d1a5c71e0a9 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/mantid/api/src/Exports/IPeakFunction.cpp
+++ b/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/mantid/api/src/Exports/IPeakFunction.cpp
@@ -7,12 +7,18 @@ using Mantid::API::IPeakFunction;
 using Mantid::PythonInterface::IPeakFunctionAdapter;
 using namespace boost::python;
 
-void export_IPeakFunction()
-{
-  class_<IPeakFunction, bases<IFunction1D>, boost::shared_ptr<IPeakFunctionAdapter>,
-         boost::noncopyable>("IPeakFunction")
-   .def("functionLocal", (object (IPeakFunctionAdapter::*)(const object &)const)&IPeakFunction::functionLocal,
-        "Calculate the values of the function for the given x values. The output should be stored in the out array")
-    ;
+void export_IPeakFunction() {
+  class_<IPeakFunction, bases<IFunction1D>,
+         boost::shared_ptr<IPeakFunctionAdapter>, boost::noncopyable>(
+      "IPeakFunction")
+      .def("functionLocal",
+           (object (IPeakFunctionAdapter::*)(const object &)const) &
+               IPeakFunction::functionLocal,
+           "Calculate the values of the function for the given x values. The "
+           "output should be stored in the out array")
+      .def("intensity", &IPeakFunction::intensity,
+           "Returns the integral intensity of the peak function.")
+      .def("setIntensity", &IPeakFunction::setIntensity,
+           "Changes the integral intensity of the peak function by setting its "
+           "height.");
 }
-
diff --git a/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/test/python/mantid/api/IPeakFunctionTest.py b/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/test/python/mantid/api/IPeakFunctionTest.py
index 3832a39214ed..2ac78d6d5376 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/test/python/mantid/api/IPeakFunctionTest.py
+++ b/Code/Mantid/Framework/PythonInterface/test/python/mantid/api/IPeakFunctionTest.py
@@ -13,6 +13,41 @@ def init(self):
     def functionLocal(self, xvals):
         return 5*xvals
 
+class RectangularFunction(IPeakFunction):
+    def init(self):
+        self.declareParameter("Height")
+        self.declareParameter("Fwhm")
+        self.declareParameter("Center")
+
+    def centre(self):
+        return self.getParameterValue("Center")
+
+    def setCentre(self, newCenter):
+        self.setParameter("Center", newCenter)
+
+    def height(self):
+        return self.getParameterValue("Height")
+
+    def setHeight(self, newHeight):
+        self.setParameter("Height", newHeight)
+
+    def fwhm(self):
+        return self.getParameterValue("Fwhm")
+
+    def setFwhm(self, newFwhm):
+        self.setParameter("Fwhm", newFwhm)
+
+    def functionLocal(self, xvals):
+        center = self.getParameterValue("Center")
+        fwhm = self.getParameterValue("Fwhm")
+        height = self.getParameterValue("Height")
+
+        values = np.zeros(xvals.shape)
+        nonZero = (xvals > (center - fwhm/2.0)) & (xvals < (center + fwhm / 2.0))
+        values[nonZero] = height
+
+        return values
+
 class IPeakFunctionTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_instance_can_be_created_standalone(self):
@@ -38,5 +73,23 @@ def test_functionLocal_can_be_called_directly(self):
         self.assertEquals(10., out[1])
         self.assertEquals(15., out[2])
 
+    def test_get_set_intensity(self):
+        func = RectangularFunction()
+        func.initialize()
+        func.setCentre(1.0)
+        func.setHeight(2.0)
+        func.setFwhm(3.0)
+
+        # This is a rectangle function with height 2 and width 3, centered
+        # around 1.0. The intensity should be 6.0 (height * width)
+        self.assertAlmostEquals(func.intensity(), 6.0, delta=1e-10)
+
+        # Setting the intensity only changes height, not width
+        func.setIntensity(12.0)
+
+        self.assertEquals(func.fwhm(), 3.0)
+        self.assertAlmostEquals(func.height(), 4.0, delta=1e-10)
+        self.assertAlmostEquals(func.intensity(), 12.0, delta=1e-10)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()