At the heart of St Etheldreda's cult was the fact that her body was found to be incorrupt, remaining whole and lifelike in the grave, rather than decomposing. This was recorded initially by Bede in Bk 4, chp 19 of the History of the English Church thus helping her cult to become established and well known from an early date.The incorruptibility of the saint's body was attested long after the translation of the relics in 695, on which cf: J. Bentham, The History and Antiquities of the Conventual and Cathedral Church of Ely from the Foundation of the Monastery AD 673 to the Year 1771, (2nd Ed) Stevenson, Matchell and Stevenson, 1812, p.61
