Where was Cromwell buried?
—It has been the belief of many that the burial at Westminster Abbey was a mock ceremony, that in case a change in the ruling powers should take place, his remains were deposited in a place of greater security, and that the spot selected for his grave was the field of Naseby. The author of The Compleat History of England speaks of a "Mr. Barkstead, the regicide's son," as being ready to depose—
"That the said Barkstead his father, being Lieutenant of the Tower, and a great confident of Cromwell's, did, among other such confidents, in the time of his illness, desire to know where he would be buried; to which the Protector answered, 'where he had obtained the greatest victory and glory, and as nigh the spot as could be guessed where the heat of the action was, viz. in the field at Naseby in com. Northampton.' That at midnight, soon after his death, the body (being first embalmed and wrapt in a leaden coffin) was in a hearse conveyed to the said field, Mr. Barkstead himself attending, by order of his father, close to the hearse. That being come to the field, they found about the midst of it a grave dug about nine feet deep, with the green-sod carefully laid on one side and the mould on the other, in which the coffin being put, the grave was instantly filled up, and the green-sod laid exactly flat upon it, care being taken that the surplus mould should be clean removed. That soon after the like care was taken that the ground should be ploughed up, and that it was sowed successively with corn."
The author further states that the deponent was about fifteen years old at the time of Cromwell's death.
Some seven or eight years ago I visited the field of Naseby, and whilst there I met by accident with the aged clergyman of Naseby. Our conversation naturally referred to the historical incident that had given so much interest to the spot; and finally we spoke of this very subject. I remember his telling me that he had collected some very important memoranda relative to this matter, I think he said, "which proved the arrival of his remains at Huntingdon, on their road elsewhere."
Has this subject been properly investigated? and has any research been made which has led to a satisfactory decision of the question?
A. B.
Islington.