Near the town of Huntingdon is the beautiful Hinchinbrooke House. It was built by the Cromwell family, probably by Sir Henry Cromwell, the great-uncle of Oliver Cromwell, and Queen Elizabeth was entertained here by the “Golden Knight” as he was called. Oliver Cromwell’s house is still pointed out, and the church of All Saints contains the register of Cromwell’s birth. It is in Latin, and an exact translation would read, “Oliver, son of Robert Cromwell, gentleman, and Elizabeth, his wife, born on the 25th day of April, and baptized the 29th of the same month.” Hinchinbrooke House is a very noble specimen of baronial architecture, and it must often have been visited by Oliver Cromwell. There is a description of Cromwell in the _Remains_ of Sir Philip Warwick that is not often quoted, and may be interesting here. At the commencement of the Long Parliament, he says, “I came one morning into the house well clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking (whom I knew not) very ordinarily apparelled; for it was a plain cloth suit that seemed to have been made by a country tailor; his linen was plain and not very clean; and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band which was not much larger than his collar; his hat was without a hat-band; his stature was of good size; his sword stuck close to his side; his countenance swollen and reddish; his voice sharp and untunable; his eloquence full of fervour.” The house at the farther end of Huntingdon where Cromwell once lived is still pointed out, and the room where he was born is preserved, but the building itself has been much modernised, and ordinary sash-windows have been inserted. Hinchinbrooke House used to be the residence of Sir Oliver Cromwell, the uncle of the great Protector, and it was sold to Sir Edward Montague, in whose family it has remained till the present day. There is one magnificent room in it built by Sir Oliver Cromwell to entertain James I. in, on his coming from Scotland to succeed to the English throne. Oliver Cromwell’s mother was Elizabeth Stewart, and her brother left him a good estate, valued at £500 per annum, of course an ample sum in those days. Part of the castle which Edward the elder built here in 917 is still to be seen; traces of the outworks are very visible. Before the Reformation, Huntingdon contained fifteen churches, but these are now reduced to two. The poet Cowper lived for some time in this town, and his house is still called “Cowper House.” [Illustration: ANCIENT BRIDGE, HUNTINGDON.] The bridge here shown is six-arched, and connects Huntingdon with Godmanchester. It is extremely massive and picturesque. The old inn at the farther side has a steep roof with a break in it, to give more head room to the upper floors, and that style is again being adopted in many parts of England. [Illustration: OLD GEORGE INN, HUNTINGDON.]