he church, the Countess of
Bedford being chief mourner. The funeral service was performed by the
Dean of Peterborough; the prebendaries and choir of the Cathedral then
sang an anthem, after which a sermon was preached by Wickham, Bishop of
Lincoln. The officers having broken their staves and cast them into the
vault, and the offerings appointed having been made to the Bishop and
Dean and Chapter of Peterborough, the nobility and officers, who had
attended the funeral, returned to the bishop's palace, where a
sumptuous repast was provided, after which they all returned to their
respective homes.

"The place where this queen was interred, is now marked by a marble slab
directly under the doorway leading from the choir into its south aisle.
Over this was erected a superb monument to her memory, which remained
perfect until the time of the great rebellion.

"After the queen's body had lain at Peterborough about 25 years, her
son, James I., wishing to have it removed to Westminster Abbey, wrote
to the Dean and Chapter of Peterborough, requesting them to allow of
the removal.[18] The corpse was accordingly taken from its grave at
Peterborough, and removed to the place where it now lies, at
Westminster, under the care of Richard Neile, Bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield, on October 11th, 1612."

The next event of public interest happened during the bishopric of John
Towers, in 1643; namely, the destruction and defacement of all the
monuments and ornamental pictures of the cathedral, through the foolish
prejudices and blinded bigotry of the puritanical followers of
Cromwell, who destroyed every thing valuable within it, and spread
terror over the surrounding country. The stately front, the curious
altar-piece, and beautiful cloister, for which the cathedral was
remarkable, were defaced and injured by them as they passed through the
city, on their way to Croyland, which they were going to besiege, it
having declared in favour of the king. To reduce that town, the
Parliamentarian forces marched through Peterborough about the middle of
the month of April. The first regiment that came did no harm to the
church, for, being commanded by one Hubbart, who seems to have been a
great improvement upon the puritanical leaders of that time, the
soldiers received orders, in no way to injure the Cathedral. But
unfortunately, about two days after, a regiment of horse arrived,
commanded by Colonel Cromwell; and these men the morning after thei