Ely Cathedral and St. Andrew's, Isleham

We look here at mighty Ely Cathedral and at a much humbler nearby church whose ceiling shows what Ely's ceiling was, before it was covered up in the 19th Century.

The cathedral is on a hill for the very good reason that Ely lies in the fens. Access was by boats until the 19th century and its railways.

A concession had been made in 673 to St. Etheldreda. A monastery was soon built. It had jurisdiction over the seven manors of the Isle of Ely, which were recorded in Domesday as having 40 villeins, each with 15 acres and all together with a total of 20 plow teams. The ground was so wet, however, that the major resource was the sale of eels, from which came the name Ely, originally Elge. The manorial income ceased with an act of 1836 "for the extinguishing of the secular jurisdiction of the archbishop of York and the bishop of Ely in certain liberties."

View from the park, formerly a vineyard. The original church was destroyed by Danes in 870, but the monastery was reestablished a century later. The present church, dedicated in 1250, was began by Simeon, a Norman abbot previously the prior at Winchester, which Ely resembles particularly with twin towers on the main axis. The same master mason worked on both.

The west tower rises above the shorter towers over the entrance porch. The southwest transept flanks the west tower; the northwest transept was never built.

A view of the missing northwest transept, which is to say a view of the west tower from the northwest.

From the same angle but a greater distance. The town had 400 householders in 1563, 3,000 in 1753, and 9989 in 1951. Today it is within easy commuting of Cambridge and has 15,000. The old street pattern survives, although tenants have changed in ways you probably wish you couldn't predict.

The entrance is through a galilee or vestibule, redone in the 19th Century from a much simpler form.

Looking up into the west tower.

Detail of arches.

Interior view from above.

The nave, shown here, is the oldest part of the church and was finished in 1170. The painted covering of the wooden-truss ceiling was done in 1858.

The nave from the east end. The proportion of pier to triforium to clerestory is 6:5:4.

The lantern at the crossing of the nave and east transept is the most arresting feature of the cathedral, with brilliant light from the octagon.

The lantern was begun after the collapse of the original central tower in 1322 and was designed by one Master William Hurle. It rests on posts 63 feet long. The two oaks used were bought for nine pounds in 1322/3, and the lantern was finished 20 years later, in 1341. Repairs were made in 1860 by Sir Gilbert Scott.