the waters mingling and winding by devious channels before
they reached the sea. The silt with which they were laden became
deposited in the basin of the Fens, and thus the river-beds were choked
up, compelling the intercepted waters to force new channels through the
ooze; hence there are numerous abandoned beds of old rivers still
traceable amid the level of the Fens. This region now is drained and
dyked, but in earlier times it was a wilderness of shallow waters and
reedy islets, with frequent "islands" of firmer and more elevated
ground. These were availed of for the monasteries of the Fenland--Ely,
Peterborough, Crowland, and others, all established by the Benedictines.
The abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, although situated some distance from the
marshland, may also be classed among the religious houses of the Fens.
This abbey, which is a short distance east of Cambridge, was built in
the eleventh century as the shrine of St. Edmund, King of East Anglia,
who was killed by the Danes about the year 870. It soon became one of
the wealthiest English monasteries, and was the chief religious centre
of that section. Only ruins remain, the chief being the abbey-gate, now
the property of the Marquis of Bristol, and the Norman tower and church,
which have recently been restored. In the suburbs of Bury is Hengrave
Hall, one of the most interesting Tudor mansions remaining in the
kingdom. Originally, it was three times its present size, and was built
by Sir Thomas Kytson about 1525. Its gate-house is rich in details, and
the many windows and projections of the southern front group
picturesquely.

[Illustration: ELY CATHEDRAL, FROM THE RAILWAY-BRIDGE.]

Following the Cam northward from Cambridge through the marshland, we
come to the Isle of Ely, the great "fortress of the Fens," and standing
upon its highest ground the cathedral of Ely. Here St. Etheldreda
founded a monastery in the seventh century, which ultimately became a
cathedral, Ely having been given a bishop in 1109. The present buildings
date all the way from the eleventh to the sixteenth century, so that
they give specimens of all Gothic styles. The cathedral is five hundred
and thirty-seven feet long, and from the summit of its western tower can
be gained a fine view of the spreading fens and lowlands of
Cambridgeshire, amid which stands the Isle of Ely. One of the finest
views of this tower is that obtained from the road leading to Ely Close.
Before drainage had improved