Our visit to Ely Cathedral

The cathedral at Ely is known as the ‘Ship of the Fens’ and as you approach from some miles away it is quite clear why it has this title.  The cathedral stands tall above the low-lying fens like a galleon on a calm sea.

There has been a church in Ely since Christianity first came to England, but the area did not become renown until the body of Etheldreda a Saxon princess who had founded a double monastery there was exhumed and found to be incorrupt.  Ely then became a place of Christian pilgrimage and for many years her tomb was housed within the cathedral until it was destroyed along with the stained glass windows and statues during the Reformation.

We arrived in the town mid-morning and had an opportunity to visit other places of interest in the town before our scheduled guided tour of the cathedral.

Some of our group made for the home of the town’s most famous resident, Oliver Cromwell.  He came to live in Ely in 1636 and the house has been much restored to give the visitor a unique sense of the Cromwell household of that period.  An excellent audio guide enabled the visitor to view the house and artefacts as well as become acquainted with 17th century life.  For the more adventurous there were various helmets and other headgear to try on. The last room to be visited, Cromwell’s bedroom is supposed to be haunted, although nobody reported a ‘presence’ in the room.  Before you left the room you could decide whether you regarded him as a hero or villain.  The overwhelming response as indicated on a chart was that visitors thought him to be a hero. Perhaps opinion was swayed a little, knowing that upon the restoration of the monarchy his corpse was exhumed and then beheaded!
Others visited the local museum, housed in the old gaol. Here you could see the original prison cells, fossils and Roman remains and visit a gallery dedicated to the Cambridgeshire Regiment.

There was also an opportunity for more leisurely pursuits such as walking along the banks of the River Great Ouse.  Nobody as far as I am aware accepted the invitation to be more adventurous and climb to the top of either the West Tower or the Octagon Tower of the cathedral - 288 steps and 165 steps respectively!

Waiting for our guided tour to start, we were able to view the outside of the cathedral, which is regarded as one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in the country.  One of the group likened the ornate decoration to Antoni Gaudi’s famous Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.

Our very knowledgeable guide started his tour in the porch, simply because there were a number of musicians and singers rehearing for the Summer Prom taking place later that evening.  The music was excellent, but we tried to keep our mind on the guide and what he was telling us. He made a very brave effort, pointing out the areas of interest as well as explaining the history of the building to us against the background of music. There is much to see in the cathedral, the beautiful painting ceiling in the nave and the equally magnificent paintings of thirty-two angels at the base of the Octagon lantern. The millennium sculptures created some interest.  ‘The Way of Life’ cast in aluminium, underneath the West Tower is particularly inspiring. The statue of ‘The Blessed Virgin Mary’ showing an exultant Mary, weighing half a ton and carved in Portland stone, hanging above the altar in the Lady Chapel, produced mixed comments. At the end of our tour we would have to say that in footballing terms the scoreline would read Zadok the Priest – one; Cathedral Guide – nil.

Although there is some beautiful Victorian stained glass in the cathedral itself, the stained glass museum which is housed in the cathedral was well worth the a visit.  Here there are some very fine and beautiful examples of stained glass, displaying the skills of the glassmakers from the 13th century to the present day and illustrating how stained glass has changed over the centuries.  Many of the glass panels are unique and come from redundant churches.  Also on display are models of how stained glass is made and the various tools required.

All agreed that this was a very interesting trip.

back to top