Everything about Ely totally explained
Ely (; /'iːli/, rhyming with "freely") is a
cathedral city in the
East Cambridgeshire district of
Cambridgeshire in the
east of England and 14 miles (23 km) north north-east of
Cambridge.
Ely has been informally accounted a city by virtue of being the seat of a diocese, its status was confirmed by
Royal Charter in 1974; at that time the
parish council of the single
civil parish that makes up Ely was formed during a reorganisation of
local government. With a population of 15,102 in 2001, Ely is the
third smallest city in England (after
Wells (
Somerset) and the
City of London) and the sixth smallest in the United Kingdom (with
St David's,
Bangor, and
Armagh also smaller).
The city is very attractive, retaining many historic buildings with its winding shopping throughfares. There is a market on Thursday and Saturday each week. Ely is on the
River Great Ouse and was a significant port until the 18th century when the
Fens were drained and Ely wasn't an "island" anymore. The river is a popular boating area with a large marina. The
University of Cambridge rowing team has a boathouse on the bank of the river and train here for the annual
Boat Race against
Oxford University.
The 1944 Boat Race was raced on the River Great Ouse near Ely, the only time it hasn't been held on the River Thames. The race was won by Oxford despite Cambridge being ahead early in the contest.
Ely railway station, situated on the
Fen Line, is a major train hub with direct trains to
Cambridge,
London King's Cross,
London Liverpool Street,
Stansted Airport,
King's Lynn,
Ipswich,
March,
Peterborough,
Nottingham,
Manchester,
Birmingham,
Liverpool,
Thetford and
Norwich.
Ely is the nearest cathedral city to
Cambridge. Cambridge doesn't have its own cathedral and is within the Diocese of Ely. The diocese covers 1507 square miles/3900 square
kilometres and holds 610,000 people (1995) and 341 churches; it includes the county of
Cambridgeshire (except for three parishes in the south which are in the diocese of
Chelmsford) the western part of
Norfolk, a few parishes in
Peterborough and
Essex and one in
Bedfordshire.
History
It is said that Ely derives its name from 'eel' and '-y' or '-ey' meaning island, for example an island where there were a lot of eels. This may be true due to the position of Ely, an island in low lying fens, which were historically very marshy and rich in
eels. It has even been claimed that, during the 11th century, monks of the town would use eels as currency to pay their taxes.
The city's origins lay in the foundation of an abbey in 673AD, a mile (1.6 km) to the north of the village of
Cratendune on the
Isle of Ely, under the protection of
St Ethelreda, daughter of
King Anna. The abbey was destroyed in 870 by
Danish invaders and not rebuilt for over a hundred years. The site was one of the last holdouts in England to the rule of
William I:
Hereward the Wake didn't surrender until 1071.
Ely Cathedral
» Main article Ely Cathedral.
The magnificent cathedral of Ely, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is known as the "Ship of the Fens" for the distant views of its towers that dominate the low-lying wetlands called
The Fens. The diocese of Ely was created in 1108, out of the
see of Lincoln. The cathedral was started by William I in 1083 and completed in 1351, despite the collapse of the main tower in 1322, which was rebuilt as an octagonal tower. The bishopric of Ely was founded in 1109. The city took part in the
Peasants' Revolt of 1381.
Oliver Cromwell lived in Ely for several years after inheriting the position of local tax collector in 1636. His former home dates to the 16th century and is now used by the Tourist Information Office as well as being a museum with rooms displayed as they'd have been in Cromwell's time.
Historical documents relating to Ely, including Church of England parish registers, court records, maps and photographs, are held by
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Cambridge.
Ely City F.C. are a football club that were established in 1885 and joined the
Eastern Counties Football League in 1960. In the 1997-98 season, they reached the 3rd round of the
FA Vase. For the 2007-08 season, they're members of the
Eastern Counties Football League Division One.
They play at the Unwin Sports Ground, in the shadow of
Ely Cathedral. Its picturesque views were featured in David Bauckham's book
Dugouts.
Twin cities and towns
(alphabetic list)
People from Ely
Ken Wallis, Autogiro world record holder, was born in Ely.
Sir Clive Woodward, rugby union player and Rugby World Cup 2003 winning manager with England national rugby union team was born in Ely.
Guy Pearce, actor, born in Ely before emigrating to Australia. Famous for leading roles in films such as Memento and more recently, The Proposition.
Ryan Giggs, Manchester United football player.Further Information
Get more info on 'Ely'.
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