Peterborough

Tired of the hustle of the city, we left from King's Cross for a train ride through the countryside to Peterborough. Chanda's great grandfather left Peterborough, England, in 1880 for Florida.
Walked from the station towards the huge Norman cathedral, a twin of Ely, though a little smaller. On the way, is St. John the Baptist, the parish church, the likely church of the family. Not open, though.
Had a nice lunch on the square before taking on the cathedral. The square and a cross street are pedestrianized and there's a fountain on the order of the Centennial fountain in Atlanta with varying jets from below. Also, what appears to be the old market sits in the square.
The cathedral is one of the important churches in England, with roots to a monastery in 650 ad. Vikings destroyed that in 870. A fire in 1116 destroyed the monastery that replaced it. This version was built mostly from the early 1100s to the early 1200s.
The cathedral has an early Gothic facade, added later. The three tall arches on the facade are unlike any other church we've seen before. The southwest tower was never completed, giving an asymmetrical appearance from a distance.
History buffs and viewers of Wolf Hall will recall Henry VIII directing that Katherine of Aragon should be interred here because "it will be cheaper." She is still here, although Mary Queen of Scots was moved.
A large sum from lottery sales has been set aside for renovation and the effort shows in what's been done and what's underway.
Inside, the first impression is of the size of the church, followed by the beauty of the wooden ceiling, circa 1250.
Before the Reformation and Henry's dissolution of the monasteries, there were a number of important relics here, including a piece of bread from the feeding of the 5000 and St. Oswald's arm - the one that passed out his Easter dinner to the poor. But it and its coffin disappeared along with much Catholic regalia.
The organ was in process of tuning or something, so we were treated to a medley of hymns, other songs and effects as we walked around.
After a walk around the former cloister, we headed to the station and back to London. At Paddington, cashed in our transit passes (don't know why they are called Oyster cards) and bought our train tickets back to Heathrow for tomorrow morning's long flight home.