Ely - Cathedral

Ely was founded in 673 by St Æthelthryth, daughter of King Anne of East Anglia, by founding an abbey to the north of the village of Cratendune in the Isle of Ely. Queen Æthelthryth from Northumbria was on the run from her husband Ecgfrith, whom she refused to sleep with for twelve years in order not to break an oath of chastity. Ten years after her death, her body is said to have remained uncorrupted. She was reinterred in a marble sarcophagus, which was described as miraculous and attracted many pilgrims.

When the Normans under William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, Ely was successfully defended under Hereward the Wake until the clergy handed over the Isle of Ely to the king in 1071 on condition that they were allowed to retain all the rights and privileges they had enjoyed since the time of Edward the Confessor. A diocese of Ely was founded as early as 1109.

Ely Cathedral is widely recognised as a prime example of Romanesque-Norman architecture due to its Romanesque core and Norman basic concept. A large number of its structural elements are in Gothic forms, the use of which began here as early as the 12th century. Under William the Conquerer, the new Romanesque abbey church was begun in 1083 by the Norman abbot Simeon, a former monk of St Ouen near Rouen, who was already 90 years old at the time. Work began with the choir. The eastern transept was built between 1087 and 1093 with aisles originally running around three sides of the wings. The arcades of this transept are now the oldest parts of the first construction phase. The 12-bay nave dates from the 12th century and has the highest nave in England. It was completed in 1180 and has a three-part elevation with alternating columns and galleries. The portal on the south aisle dates from around 1140 with a depiction of the Majestas Domini. An influence from south-west France is likely. The door led to the cloister, which no longer exists.

After a break of thirty years, the west tower and west transept were completed. The new master builder succeeded in completing the work, which had begun in Romanesque forms, by consistently using early Gothic pointed arches, without creating disharmony between old and new. Under Bishop Hugh of Northwold, the polygonal Romanesque choir was demolished and replaced from 1234 by the present six-bay Gothic choir, completed in 1252.