The first building on the site was a monastery started by King Paeda of Mercia in 655AD in what was called Medeshamstede. It grew into what has become Peterborough but the building was still a monastery at the time Katherine of Aragon was buried there after her death in 1539. As if through a sense of guilt King Henry declared it a Cathedral 1541 as a memorial to his first wife but it was later sacked by Oliver Cromwell in 1643. Fortunately the fabric of this most unusual of cathedral buildings remained intact and its 13 magnificent bells are housed in the North West tower where they will ring out across the fens to celebrate St. George.
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