Cromwell

For more details visit http://www.creatingmycambridge.com/trails/from-abbey-meadows-to-market-square/

Oliver Cromwell grew up in Huntingdon near Cambridge, and went to Sidney Sussex College, starting as a student just before his seventeenth birthday. He worked in and around Cambridge for the next 20 years, becoming MP and joined the Parliamentarian side during the English Civil War. When King Charles I was executed in 1649 England became a Republic, so there was no King or Queen of England, and instead Cromwell took the title “Protector” and he was the ruler until he died in 1658. When the monarchy was restored in 1660 Cromwell’s body was dug up and his head put on a spike above Westminster. One day it blew off in a storm and his family had his remains returned. To this day nobody knows the exact location of Cromwell’s head! A true mystery, it was placed in an unmarked grave in Sidney Sussex College. Even those who claim to know will never tell ...