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The City of Ely is the primary retail and service centre for the District. The city itself has a population of 17,380. The Cathedral dominates the city centre, as it does the surrounding countryside.
Ely is situated on a low hill rising to about 80 feet and surrounded by the Fens. Before the Fens were drained, the hill was virtually an island, and the name Ely means 'Eel Island'.
Ely Cathedral is a masterpiece. The present building dates from 1081; however, a monastery for monks and nuns was founded by St Etheldreda in 673. St Etheldreda was then installed as the first Abbess by St Wilfrid, Archbishop of York. For 200 years Etheldreda's monastery flourished. Then in 869 an army of Danes descended on East Anglia. The monastery was burned and pillaged; the monks and nuns were either killed or fled. Ely was left a ruin.
Under Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, England saw a great revival in monastic life and in 970 Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, re-established the monastery at Ely as a Benedictine foundation for men. It was under Britnoth, the first Abbot, that the church was restored. Towards the end of the 10th century, Danish raids continued, but fortunately the monastery escaped further damage.
During the 1066 Norman Conquest of England, Ely was a centre of Anglo-Saxon resistance under Hereward the Wake, and so successful was Hereward's campaign that William the Conqueror himself was obliged to come to the city to quell the rebels. After these troubled times, the medieval ages were relatively prosperous and Ely became one of the major monastic houses in England, much of its wealth being spent on building and decorating the cathedral and the surrounding monastic buildings.
During the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, Ely suffered less than many places, with the destruction of statues, carvings and window* in the Lady Chapel. However, at the time of the Civil War in the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell entered the Cathedral with soldiers during a service and caused the building to be closed for some 17 years.
This great Cathedral is, of course, the historic treasure of the city, and its graceful octagonal tower is the most outstanding feature, built to replace the Norman tower which collapsed in 1322. The scale, engineering skill and sheer beauty are breathtaking, and we can only marvel at the vision of Alan of Walsingham in designing such a piece of architecture.
The 14th-century Lady Chapel, with its vaulted room and intricate stone carvings, is the largest in England.
The Cathedral is set within the walls of the Benedictine Monastery, and a walk round the College will reveal that Ely has the largest collection of medieval domestic architecture in England.
In the 1990s the Cathedral is the centre of a great Diocese. Every day there are at least three services, continuing the worship that has taken place for over 1,300 years.
Standing in the shadows of the Cathedral, having played its own part in this nation's chequered history, is the former home of England's Lord Protector. Oliver Cromwell's House has been extensively restored, and rooms include a portrait room, tithe office, Civil War exhibition, Cromwell's study and a haunted bedroom.
Ely Museum, moving to its new location in the Old Gaol House on the corner of Lynn Road and Market Street, will chronicle the story of the Isle of Ely from the Ice Age to the present day. To see stained glass, ancient and modern, at close quarters, the visitor should climb to the Cathedral's north triforium gallery to the Stained Glass Museum.
The River Great Ouse flows through the city and has free 48-hour moorings. There is also the opportunity to hire boats for short-term and daily use. Along its banks you will find pubs and restaurants and also one of the largest antiques centres in East Anglia, which is situated in an old converted granary.
The Mailings adjoins the River Walk. It was built in 1868 for the brewery of Ebenezer William Harlock and is now a public hall and conference centre open for meals, snacks and drinks from its Waterfront Brasserie.
Shopping is easy and convenient, with ample free car parking and a good mix of speciality and more well known shops. Every Thursday there is a thriving general market, the origins of which date back to the monastic times, and on Saturdays the market specialises in crafts, collectables and curiosities.
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