one of the chief railway-junctions in Midland England.
The remains of the monastic buildings, and especially of the cathedral,
are magnificent, the great feature of the latter being its western
front, which was completed in the thirteenth century, and has three
great open arches, making probably the finest church-portico in Europe.
On the left of the cathedral is the chancel of Becket's Chapel, now a
grammar-school, while on the right is the ancient gateway of the abbot's
lodgings, which has become the entrance to the bishop's palace. The main
part of the cathedral is Norman, though portions are Early English. It
is built in the form of a cross, with a smaller transept at the western
end, while the choir terminates in an apse, and a central tower rises
from four supporting arches. Within the cathedral, over the doorway, is
a picture of old Scarlet, Peterborough's noted sexton, who buried
Catharine of Arragon and Mary Queen of Scots. The nave has an ancient
wooden roof, carefully preserved and painted with various devices. The
transept arches are fine specimens of Norman work. Queen Catharine lies
under a slab in the aisle of St. John's Chapel, but the remains of Queen
Mary were removed to Westminster Abbey by James I., to the magnificent
tomb he prepared there for his mother.

[Illustration: AISLE AND CHOIR, PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.]

CROWLAND ABBEY.

Farther northward in the Fenland, and over the border in Lincolnshire,
was the Benedictine abbey of "courteous Crowland," though its remains
are now scanty. It derives its name from the "Land of Crows," which in
this part is drained by the Welland River and the great Bedford Level.
On one of the many islands of firmer soil abounding in this oozy region
the monks constructed their monastery, but had little space for
cultivation, and brought their food from remoter possessions. Now,
Crowland is no longer an island, for the drainage has made fast land all
about, and the ruins have attracted a straggling village. Here is the
famous "triangular bridge," a relic of the abbey. Three streams met, and
the bridge was made to accommodate the monks, who, from whatever
direction they approached, had to cross one of them. The streams now are
conveyed underground, but the bridge remains like a stranded monster
which the tide has abandoned, and gives the children a play-place. Its
steep half-arches, meeting in the centre, are climbed by rough steps.
The dissolved abbey served as a qua