Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral, Anglican cathedral in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, U.K. The Romanesque cathedral can trace its origins to the 7th century, though the present building dates only as far back as 1083. It is celebrated for its beauty and its history, and it is a major tourist attraction.

The cathedral sails above the marshes of the Isle of Ely, named for the eels in the surrounding fenland. Before the fens were drained in the 17th century, the isle was almost inapproachable. A monastery was founded on the Isle of Ely in 673 by Etheldreda, daughter of one of the kings of East Anglia. Following its destruction in war, it was restored and refounded as a Benedictine monastery in the 10th century, becoming one of the richest abbeys in England. Once the Normans gained control, they started to demolish the abbey and to build the present cathedral beginning in 1083, the first phase lasting until 1189, when the nave was completed. The church gained cathedral status in 1109.

The structure of the church remains fundamentally a Norman creation to this day, but the choir dates from the 14th century and was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. The most spectacular feature of all, the central octagon rising on arches above the whole width of the nave and supporting the soaring wooden lantern, was built between 1328 and 1342, after the original central tower collapsed in 1322. An extraordinary feat of engineering, it was constructed under the careful eye of Alan de Walsingham, who was sacristan at the time and who also added the delightful Lady Chapel, completed in 1349. The Porta, the impressive great gate into the cathedral off The Gallery, dates from the 1390s. The most recent restoration project, which included a processional way to join the previously separate Lady Chapel to the cathedral, was completed in 2000.