Ely, Cambridgeshire#Notable buildings

File:Isle_of_Ely_and_Camp_of_Refuge_map.jpg

Roswell Pits{{refn|Roswell Pits are also known as Roslyn Hole{{Harvnb|Skertchly|1877|p=236}} and Roslyn Pit{{Harvnb|Marr|Thomas|1967|p=19}}|group=lower-roman}} are a palaeontologically significant Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} northeast of the city. The Jurassic Kimmeridge Clays were quarried in the 19th and 20th centuries for the production of pottery and for maintenance of river embankments. Many specimens of ammonites, belemnites and bivalves were found during quarrying, in addition to an almost complete specimen of a pliosaur.{{cite web|last=Stubbington|first=Paul|title=Ely master plan: report number 14555/02/PS/JFR: Infrastructure and constraints assessment|url=http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf|page=2|publisher=Cambridgeshire Horizons|access-date=14 November 2011|date=January 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011}}

There is some scattered evidence of Late Mesolithic{{cite web|title=Multiperiod remains, Chief's Street, Ely: CHER number: CB15534|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15534&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728181517/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15534&resourceID=1000|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} to Bronze Age{{cite web|title=Neolithic/Bronze Age activity, Trinity and Runciman lands, West Fen Road, Ely. CHER number: CB15553|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15553&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728181826/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15553&resourceID=1000|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} activity in Ely such as Neolithic flint tools,{{cite web|title=Neolithic flints, Bray's Lane, Ely. CHER number: 10475|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB12426&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728181431/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB12426&resourceID=1000|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} a Bronze Age axe{{cite web|title=Bronze Age battle axe, Springhead Lane, Ely. CHER number: 08043|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB9683&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728183408/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB9683&resourceID=1000|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} and spearhead.{{cite web|title=Bronze spearhead, Ely area. CHER number: 09452|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15553&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728181826/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15553&resourceID=1000|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} There is slightly denser Iron Age and Roman activity with some evidence of at least seasonal occupation. For example, a possible farmstead, of the late Iron Age to early Roman period, was discovered at West Fen Road{{cite web|title=Late Iron Age/Conquest period settlement, West Fen Road. CHER number: CB15472|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15472&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830072617/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15472&resourceID=1000|archive-date=30 August 2012|url-status=live}} and some Roman pottery was found close to the east end of the cathedral on The Paddock.{{cite web|title=Roman pottery, The Paddock, Ely. CHER number: 10170B|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB12055&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728182232/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB12055&resourceID=1000|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} There was a Roman settlement, including a tile kiln built over an earlier Iron Age settlement, in Little Thetford, {{convert|3|mi|km|0|spell=in}} to the south.{{cite web|title=Romano-British settlement, Little Thetford. CHER number: CB15675|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15675&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925112413/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB15675&resourceID=1000|archive-date=25 September 2012|url-status=live}}

The origin and meaning of Ely's name have always been deemed obscure by place name scholars and are still disputed. The earliest record of the name is in the Latin text of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, where he wrote Elge.{{sfn|Giles|1843|loc=chap. XIX}} This is apparently not a Latin name, and subsequent Latin texts nearly all used the forms {{lang|la|Elia}},{{sfn|Crabb|1833|loc={{sc|Ely}}}} {{lang|la|Eli}}, or {{lang|la|Heli}} with inorganic H-. In Old English charters, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the spelling is usually {{lang|ang|Elig}}.{{sfn|Earle|1865|pp=161, 210, 242 et al}}

Skeat derived the name Ely from what he called "O[ld] Northumbrian" {{lang|ang|ēlġē}}, meaning "district of eels".{{sfn|Skeat|1901|pp= 51–2}} This uses a hypothetical word *ġē, which is not recorded in isolation but thought by some to be related to the modern German word Gau, meaning "district". The theory is that the name then developed a vowel to become {{lang|ang|ēliġē}}, and was afterwards re-interpreted to mean "Eel Island". This essentially is the explanation accepted by Reaney,{{sfn|Reaney|1943|pp=213–4}} Ekwall,{{sfn|Ekwall|1960|p=166}} Mills{{sfn|Mills|2003|p=178}} and Watts.{{sfn|Watts|2004|p=215}}

But difficulties remain. Bailey, in his discussion of ġē names, has pointed out that Ely would be anomalous if really from {{lang|ang|ēlġē}} "eel district", being remote from the areas where possible examples of ġē names occur, and moreover, there is no parallel for the use of a fish-name in compounds with ġē. More seriously, the usual English spelling remains {{lang|ang|Elig}}, even in the dative case used after many prepositions, where {{lang|ang|Elige}} would be expected if the second element were īġ "island". This is in conflict with all the other island names which surround Ely.{{sfn|Bailey|1999|pp=63–76}}

Problems also remain, as pointed out by historian Mac Dowdy, as the word eel (or similar) did not exist at the time of the founding of Ely,{{dubious|date=March 2022}} and they were instead referred to as aguilla or anguilles until the 1300s. Mac proposes that instead the city gets its name from the word "Elysium", later shortened to Ely. This is believed as Etheldreda's chamberlain, Ovin, described it as "an ancient place of great spiritual importance to the people of the region, a paradise". This was later changed as Wilfrid's chronicler used the Latin term for Paradise "Elysium".{{Cite web|last=Mansfield|first=Daniel|title=Cambridge academic has new theory on how Ely got its name|url=https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/cambridge-academic-has-new-theory-on-how-ely-got-its-name-1-1753833|access-date=2020-07-01|website=Ely Standard|date=27 December 2012|language=en|archive-date=3 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703182646/https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/cambridge-academic-has-new-theory-on-how-ely-got-its-name-1-1753833|url-status=dead}}

Another option, discussed by Miller in Fenland Notes and Queries, is that the name is an old Celtic name deriving either from the Brythonic helig (modern Welsh helyg) meaning willows or heli meaning salt water. Miller construes the name as meaning the singular and thinks it odd a place so abounding in the trees would be called 'a willow'.{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=S H|title=Fenland notes and queries : a quarterly antiquarian journal for the fenland, in the counties of Huntingdon, Cambridge, Lincoln, Northampton, Norfolk, and Suffolk - Vol 2|year=1892|page=316|url= https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008697172}}

{{See also|Lands and Liberties of the Church at Ely}}

The city's origins lay in the foundation of an abbey in 673,{{cite web | title = A Brief History of the Diocese of Ely | url = http://www.ely.anglican.org/about/brief_history.html | work = The Diocese of Ely | publisher = The Diocese of Ely limited | access-date = 30 October 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110522021054/http://www.ely.anglican.org/about/brief_history.html | archive-date = 22 May 2011 | url-status = dead }}{{Harvnb|Miller|1953|p=1}} {{convert|1|mi|spell=in}} to the north of the village of Cratendune on the Isle of Ely, under the protection of Saint Etheldreda, daughter of King Anna. St Etheldreda (also known as Æthelthryth) was a queen, founder and abbess of Ely. She built a monastery in 673 AD, on the site of what is now Ely Cathedral.[https://www.elydiocese.org/about/history/all-about-st-etheldreda.php] This first abbey was destroyed in 870 by Danish invaders{{Harvnb|Marr|Thomas|1967|p=1}} and rededicated to Etheldreda in 970 by Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester.{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=8}} The abbots of Ely then accumulated such wealth in the region that in the Domesday survey (1086) it was the "second richest monastery in England".{{Harvnb|Turner|2003|p=13}} The first Norman bishop, Simeon, started building the cathedral in 1083.{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=339}} The octagon was rebuilt by sacrist Alan of Walsingham between 1322 and 1328 after the collapse of the original nave crossing on 22 February 1322.{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=340}} Ely's octagon is considered "one of the wonders of the medieval world".{{Harvnb|Andrews|2004|p=596}} Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner believes the octagon "is a delight from beginning to end for anyone who feels for space as strongly as for construction" and is the "greatest individual achievement of architectural genius at Ely Cathedral".{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|pp=355, 357}} This gave the cathedral its distinctive shape, earning it the moniker, "The Ship of the Fens".[https://flickeringlamps.com/2015/02/07/the-stunning-ship-of-the-fens-ely-cathedral/] Building continued until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 during the Reformation. The cathedral was sympathetically restored between 1845 and 1870 by the architect George Gilbert Scott. As the seat of a diocese, Ely has long been considered a city; in 1974, city status was granted by royal charter.

File:Ely Oliver Cromwell House.jpg.{{NHLE |num=1126467 |desc=St Mary's vicarage (Grade II*) |access-date=8 November 2011}} Oliver Cromwell lived here between 1638 and 1646.{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=63}} Since 1990, the building has been open as the Oliver Cromwell's House tourist attraction and as Ely's tourist information centre.{{cite web|title=Oliver Cromwell House – a jewel in the district|url=http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/press/oliver-cromwell-house-%E2%80%93-jewel-district|publisher=East Cambridgeshire District Council|access-date=26 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119001401/http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/press/oliver-cromwell-house-%E2%80%93-jewel-district|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=dead}}Plaque inside the building]]

Cherry Hill is the site of Ely Castle which is of Norman construction and is a United Kingdom scheduled monument.{{cite web|title=Cherry Hill Castle Mound CHER number: 01764|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB2252&resourceID=1000|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 November 2011|quote=Scheduled Monument Cambridgeshire 39: 'Cherry Hill', castle mound|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102182726/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCB2252&resourceID=1000|archive-date=2 January 2012|url-status=live}} Of similar construction to Cambridge Castle, the {{convert|250|ft|m|adj=on}} diameter, {{convert|40|ft|m}} high citadel-type motte and bailey is thought to be a royal defence built by William the Conqueror following submission of the Isle from rebels such as the Earl Morcar and the folk-hero Hereward the Wake from the Ely Rebellion.{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=380}} This would date the first building of the castle to {{circa}} 1070.

Henry III of England granted a market to the Bishop of Ely using letters close on 9 April 1224 although Ely had been a trading centre prior to this.{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Lisa|last2=Davies|first2=Charlotte|year=2008|title=25, Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire Construction of Residential Dwellings|url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-481-1/dissemination/pdf/archaeol7-62442_1.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402164027/http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-481-1/dissemination/pdf/archaeol7-62442_1.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2012|access-date=14 November 2011|work=Archaeological Monitoring & Recording|publisher=Archaeological Solutions|location=Cambridge|page=8}} Present weekly market days are Thursday and Saturday and seasonal markets are held monthly on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from Easter to November.

Following the accession of Mary I of England to the throne in 1553, the papacy made its first effective efforts to enforce the Pope Paul III-initiated Catholic reforms in England.{{Harvnb|Foxe|1838|pp=ii–iii}} During this time, which became known as the Marian Persecutions, two men from Wisbech, constable William Wolsey and painter Robert Pygot, "were accused of not ... believing that the body and blood of Christ were present in the bread and wine of the sacrament of mass".{{Harvnb|Blakeman|1990|p=131}} For this Christian heresy they were condemned by the bishop's chancellor, John Fuller,{{ODNBweb|id=10231|title=Fuller, John}} on 9 October 1555.{{Harvnb|Foxe|1838|pp=820–821}} On 16 October 1555 they were burnt at the stake "probably on the Palace Green in front of Ely Cathedral". In The Book of Ely published in 1990, Blakeman writes that "permission was not given" for a memorial to the martyrs to be placed on Palace Green. In 2011, a plaque recording this martyrdom event was erected on the northeast corner of Palace Green by the City of Ely Perspective. The plaque is located 2 inches from the pavement floor in an obscure, easily missed corner.{{cite web|title=Ely Martyrs|url=http://www.elyperspective.co.uk/|publisher=City of Ely Perspective|access-date=14 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426051612/http://www.elyperspective.co.uk/|archive-date=26 April 2012|url-status=live}}

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File:Speeds plan of Ely 1610 from Dorman 1986.jpg, 1610.{{refn|Taken from Dorman 1986 p. 54{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=54}} which originates from John Speed's plan of Ely on his 1610 Huntingdonshire map{{cite web|last=Speed|first=John|title=Huntingdonshire: From a proof copy of John Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, which was first published 1611/12. Cambridge University Library classmark: Atlas.2.61.1|url=http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/maps/speed.html|work=John Speed proof maps – Atlas.2.61.1|publisher=Cambridge University Library|access-date=12 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919154305/http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/maps/speed.html|archive-date=19 September 2012|url-status=dead}}|group=lower-roman}} The cathedral is dedicated to St Peter at this time and a windmill is shown on Mount Hill where the post-conquest motte and bailey Ely Castle once stood. In the 18th century the Reverend James Bentham planted trees on Mount Hill which was named Cherry Hill at least since 1821.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=30}}]]

Oliver Cromwell lived in Ely from 1636 to 1646 after inheriting St Mary's vicarage, a 16th century property — now known as Oliver Cromwell's House — from his mother's brother, Sir Thomas Steward.{{cite book|last=Gillingham|first=John|title=Portrait of a Soldier: Cromwell|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|location=London |year=1976|isbn=0-297-77148-5|page=8}} The house is now open to the public.{{cite web | url=https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cambridgeshire/az/ely/cromwells-house.htm | title=Oliver Cromwell's House }} During this time Cromwell was a tax collector, though was also one of the governors of Thomas Parsons' Charity, which dates back to 1445{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=88}} and was granted a Royal Charter by Charles I of England.{{cite news|title=Bishop of Ely Unveils Charter With Oliver Cromwell's Signature|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/bishop_of_ely_unveils_charter_with_oliver_cromwell_s_signature_1_250640?ot=archant.PrintFriendlyPageLayout.ot|access-date=14 December 2011|newspaper=Eastern Daily Press|date=25 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728192717/http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/bishop_of_ely_unveils_charter_with_oliver_cromwell_s_signature_1_250640?ot=archant.PrintFriendlyPageLayout.ot|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=dead}} The Charity still provides grants and housing to deserving local applicants.{{cite web|title=Land and possessions the poor of Ely otherwise Parsons' Charity: reg 202634|url=http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=202634&SubsidiaryNumber=0|work=Charity Commission|publisher=HMG (Crown)|access-date=31 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113153443/http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=202634&SubsidiaryNumber=0|archive-date=13 January 2011|url-status=live}}

There was a form of early workhouse in 1687, perhaps at St Mary's, which may have been part of an arrangement made between the Ely people and a Nicholas Wythers of Norwich in 1675.{{Harvnb|Blakeman|1990|p=60}} He was paid £30 per annum to employ the poor to "spin jersey" and was to pay them in money not goods.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|pp=43–44}} A purpose-built workhouse was erected in 1725 for 35 inmates on what is now St Mary's Court. Four other workhouses existed, including Holy Trinity on Fore Hill for 80 inmates (1738–1956) and the Ely Union workhouse, built in 1837, which housed up to 300 inmates. The latter became Tower Hospital in 1948 and is now a residential building, Tower Court. Two other former workhouses were the Haven Quayside for unmarried mothers and another on the site of what is now the Hereward Hall in Silver Street.{{cite web|title=Ely. Draft Report|url=http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6E15077F-AB5B-4B0B-99B7-788D70B1F035/0/EUSECambsEly.pdf|work=Cambridgeshire Extensive Urban Survey|publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeology Unit|access-date=19 November 2011|page=43|date=17 January 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929075551/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6E15077F-AB5B-4B0B-99B7-788D70B1F035/0/EUSECambsEly.pdf|archive-date=29 September 2011|url-status=dead}}

The diaries of writers and journalists such as William Camden, Celia Fiennes, Daniel Defoe, John Byng and William Cobbett illustrate the decline of Ely after the 14th century plague and the 16th century reformation which led to the dissolution of the monastery in 1539.{{cite web|title=Extensive Urban Survey|url=http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archaeology/record/projects/exturbsur/eastcambs/EUS-Ely.htm|work=Leisure-archaeology-record-projects-Ely|publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council|access-date=18 November 2011|date=21 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903131826/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archaeology/record/projects/exturbsur/eastcambs/EUS-Ely.htm|archive-date=3 September 2012|url-status=dead}} In the 1607 edition of Britannia,First published in 1586. In 1610, Philemon Holland translated the 1607 edition from the original Latin chorographic surveyor William Camden records that "as for Ely it selfe, it is no small Citie, or greatly to be counted off either for beauty or frequency and resort, as having an unwholsome aire by reason of the fens round about".{{refn|Originally "Ipsa vero Elye urbs est non-exigua, nec sua sane vel elegentia vel frequentia praedicanda, utpote ob uliginosum situm, coelo parum salubri" which [https://translate.google.com/ Google translates] as "The city is no small for Elias, nor the frequency of his or elegentia or, indeed, be preached, for instance because of wet site, wholesome little heaven"{{Harvnb|Camden|1607|loc=§17}}|group=lower-roman}} In 1698, Celia Fiennes was writing "the Bishop [Simon Patrick] does not Care to stay long in this place not being for his health ... they have lost their Charter ... and its a shame [the Bishop] does not see it better ordered and y^e buildings and streetes put in a better Condition. They are a slothful people and for little but y^e takeing Care of their Grounds and Cattle w^ch is of vast advantage".{{cite web|last=Fiennes|first=Celia|title=1698 Tour: Cambridge to Lichfield|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Fiennes&c_id=20|work=A vision of Britain through time|publisher=University of Portsmouth and others|access-date=19 November 2011|author-link=Celia Fiennes|year=2009|orig-year=1698|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226065355/http://visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Fiennes&c_id=20|archive-date=26 December 2010|url-status=live}} Daniel Defoe, when writing in the Eastern Counties section of A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain (1722), went "to Ely, whose cathedral, standing in a level flat country, is seen far and wide ... that some of it is so antient, totters so much with every gust of wind, looks so like a decay, and seems so near it, that when ever it does fall, all that 'tis likely will be thought strange in it, will be, that it did not fall a hundred years sooner".{{Harvnb|Defoe|1891|pp=152–153}}

The prison reformer John Howard visited Ely and described the conditions in The Gaol:-

"This gaol the property of the bishop, who is lord of the franchise of the Isle of Ely, was in part rebuilt by the late bishop about ten years ago; upon complaint of the cruel method* which for want of a safe gaol, the Keeper took to secure his prisoners (*This was by chaining them down upon their backs on a floor, across which were several iron bars and iron collar with spikes about their neck). The gaoler John Allday did not receive a salary". He records that the number of debtors outnumbered the number of felons in the prison.{{cite book|title=The state of Prisons in England and Wales, with preliminary observations, and an account of some foreign prisons|author= John Howard|publisher=Cadell|year=1777}}

On his way to a Midlands tour, John Byng visited Ely on 5 July 1790 staying at the Lamb Inn.{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|pp=74–75}} In his diary{{refn|According to Dorman{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=74}}|group=lower-roman}} he writes that "the town [Ely] is mean, to the extreme ... those withdrawn, their dependancies must decay". Recording in his Rural Rides on 25 March 1830, William Cobbett reports that "Ely is what one may call a miserable little town: very prettily situated, but poor and mean. Everything seems to be on the decline, as, indeed, is the case everywhere, where the clergy are the masters".{{Harvnb|Cobbett|1912|p=228}}

The Ely and Littleport riots occurred between 22 and 24 May 1816. At the Special Commission assizes, held at Ely between 17 and 22 June 1816, 24 rioters were condemned. Nineteen had their sentences variously commuted from penal transportation for life to twelve months' imprisonment; the remaining five were executed on 28 June 1816.{{Harvnb|Johnson|1893|pp=12–24; 65–66}}

An outbreak of cholera isolated Ely in 1832.{{cite book|title= That Alarming Malady|author= Reg Holmes|year= 1974|publisher= Ely Local History Publications Board|page= 15}}

File:Ely the market place-1.jpg by W. W. Collins{{cite web|last=Collins|first=William Wiehe|title=William Wiehe Collins: Sale 4835 Lot 60|url=http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=3564672|work=Christie's on-line catalogue|publisher=Christie's|access-date=2 December 2011|location=London, South Kensington|date=19 November 1992|quote=pencil and watercolour heightened with white|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203041958/http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=3564672|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=live}} published 1908{{cite book|last=Collins|first=William Wiehe|title=Cathedral Cities of England: 60 Reproductions from Original Water-Colours|year=1908|publisher=Project Gutenberg|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35237/35237-h/35237-h.htm|access-date=2 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728190406/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35237/35237-h/35237-h.htm|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}} showing northeast aspect of Ely Cathedral in the background with the Almonry{{NHLE |num=1126503 |desc=– Almonry, Sacrists Hall, gate and Goldsmiths Tower, High Street (south side) (Grade I) |access-date=2 November 2011}}—now a restaurant and art gallery{{cite web|title=The Almonry Restaurant Corporate & Hospitality|url=http://www.elycathedral.org/corporate/almonry_restaurant.html|publisher=Ely Cathedral|access-date=4 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103053314/http://www.elycathedral.org/corporate/almonry_restaurant.html|archive-date=3 January 2012|url-status=live}}—in front of that and the 1847 corn exchange building, now demolished, to the right of the picture.]]

Ely Cathedral was "the first great cathedral to be thoroughly restored".{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|loc=chap. XIV p. 81}} Work commenced in 1845 and was completed nearly thirty years later; most of the work was "sympathetically" carried out by the architect George Gilbert Scott.{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=81}} The only pavement labyrinth to be found in an English cathedral was installed below the west tower in 1870.{{cite web|last=Saward|first=Jeff|title=Historic Church Labyrinths in England|url=http://www.labyrinthos.net/churchlabuk.html|work=Labarinthos: Labyrinths & Mazes Resource Centre, Photo Library & Archive|publisher=Labyrinthos|access-date=14 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424041225/http://www.labyrinthos.net/churchlabuk.html|archive-date=24 April 2012|url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=75}}

For over 800 years the cathedral and its associated buildings — built on an elevation {{convert|68|ft|m}} above the nearby fens — have visually influenced the city and its surrounding area. Geographer John Jones, writing in 1924, reports that "from the roof of King's Chapel in Cambridge, on a clear day, Ely [cathedral] can be seen on the horizon, {{convert|16|mi|km}} distant, an expression of the flatness of the fens".{{Harvnb|Jones|1924|p=3}} In 1954, architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner wrote "as one approaches Ely on foot or on a bicycle, or perhaps in an open car, the cathedral dominates the picture for miles around ... and offers from everywhere an outline different from that of any other English cathedral".{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=342}} Local historian Pamela Blakeman reports a claim that "Grouped around [the cathedral] ... is the largest collection of medieval buildings still in daily use in this country".{{Harvnb|Blakeman|1990|p=13}}

The abbey at Ely was one of many which were refounded in the Benedictine reforms of King Edgar the Peaceful (943–975).{{ODNBweb|id=8463|title=Edgar}} The "special and peculiarly ancient"{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=20}} honour and freedoms given to Ely by charter at that time{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=25}} may have been intended to award only fiscal privilege,{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=28}} but have been interpreted to confer on subsequent bishops the authority and power of a ruler.{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=200}} These rights were reconfirmed in charters granted by Edward the Confessor and in William the Conqueror's confirmation of the old English liberty at Kenford. The Isle of Ely was mentioned in some statutes{{refn|For example in 33 Hen. 8. c. 10 and in the Writ De Excommunicato Capiendo Act 1562{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=27}}|group=lower-roman}} as a county palatine;{{cite web|title=Palatine|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/136245?rskey=ON4Fhs&result=1#eid|work=Oxford English Dictionary online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=1 December 2011|year=2011|quote=Originally: designating a county or other territory in England (and later other countries) as having a ruler with royal privileges and judicial authority (within the territory) which elsewhere belong to the sovereign alone (now hist.). Later: designating a modern administrative area corresponding to this. Usu. as postmodifier, esp. in county palatine.}}{{subscription required}} this provided an explanation of the bishop's royal privileges and judicial authority, which would normally belong to the sovereign; but legal authorities such as Sir Edward Coke did not completely endorse the form of words.{{Harvnb|Miller|1969|p=1}} These bishop's rights were not fully extinguished until 1837.{{cite book|chapter=General Act, 7 William IV & 1 Victoria I, c. 53|title=The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=31–32|page=585|year=1838|publisher=HMSO|location=London|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5ZFAAAAcAAJ&q=liberty%20of%20ely%20act%201837&pg=PA585}}

{{see also|City status in the United Kingdom|List of smallest cities in the United Kingdom}}

[[File:Ely.jpg|thumb|285px|OpenMap of Ely demonstrating city boundary and environs.

{{Legend-line|2px solid orange|City/parish boundary}}

{{legend|#DFDFDF|Built-up area|outline=#606060}}

{{legend|#F1EFEB|Countryside|outline=#606060}}

{{legend|#D0EFD0|Greenfield land|outline=#606060}}]]

As the seat of a diocese, Ely has long been considered a city, holding the status by ancient prescriptive right: the caption to John Speed's 1610 plan of Ely reads "Although this Citie of Ely", and Aikin refers to Ely as a city in 1800.{{Harvnb|Aikin|1800|p=206}} When Ely was given a Local Board of Health by Queen Victoria in 1850, the order creating the board said it was to cover the "city of Ely".{{cite journal |title=At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 15th day of July 1850 |journal=London Gazette |date=23 July 1850 |issue=21120 |page=2055 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21120/page/2056 |access-date=18 June 2022}} The local board which governed the city from 1850 to 1894 called itself "City of Ely Local Board", and the urban district council which replaced it and governed the city from 1894 to 1974 similarly called itself "City of Ely Urban District Council".{{cite news |title=City of Ely Local Board of Health: Notice of audit |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=18 June 2022 |work=Cambridge Chronicle and University Journal |date=22 May 1852 |page=2}}{{cite news |title=City of Ely Urban District Council: Notice of audit |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=18 June 2022 |work=Cambridge Independent Press |date=7 June 1895 |page=1}}

Ely's city status was not explicitly confirmed, however, until 1 April 1974 when Queen Elizabeth II granted letters patent, to its civil parish.{{London Gazette|issue=46255|page=4401|date=4 April 1974}} Ely's population of 20,256 (as recorded in 2011) classifies it as one of the smallest cities in England;{{Harvnb|Dalton|Ford|Strachan|Keeling|Stone|Carrier|McGrath|2011|p=503}}{{cite web | url=http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/sites/default/files/emeto.pdf | title=Ely Today | publisher=East Cambridgeshire District Council | access-date=14 October 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118224258/http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/sites/default/files/emeto.pdf | archive-date=18 January 2012 | url-status=dead }} although the population has increased noticeably since 1991 when it was recorded at 11,291. Its urban area brings Ely into the ten smallest sized cities ({{convert|1.84|sqmi|sqkm|2|abbr=on|disp=x|—}}), but by city council area it is much larger in coverage ({{convert|22.86|sqmi|sqkm|2|abbr=on|disp=x|—}}) than many others.

For elections to the UK Parliament, Ely is part of the Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.{{cite web|last=Cambridgeshire South East|title=Hansard 1805–2005 Constituencies|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/constituencies/cambridgeshire-south-east|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|access-date=26 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206115612/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/constituencies/cambridgeshire-south-east|archive-date=6 February 2012|url-status=live}}

File:Sessions House, Ely.jpg (formerly Shire Hall), Lynn Road: Courthouse, built 1821. Since 2013 the headquarters of City of Ely Council.]]

There are three tiers of local government covering Ely, at parish (city), district, and county level: City of Ely Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, and Cambridgeshire County Council.

Regular elections take place to the City of Ely Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council. The civil parish is divided into four wards called Ely North, Ely South, Ely East and Ely West. Fourteen councillors are elected to the parish council. The East Cambridgeshire District Council is also based in Ely.{{cite web | url=http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/east-cambs-district-council/council-profile | title=East Cambridgeshire District Council – What kind of Council Are We? | publisher=East Cambridgeshire District Council | access-date=8 November 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019070312/http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/east-cambs-district-council/council-profile | archive-date=19 October 2011 | df=dmy-all }} For elections to the East Cambridgeshire District Council the four wards of Ely South, Ely East and Ely West each return two district councillors; and Ely North returns three.{{cite web | url=http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/democracy/democracy-elections/Wards | title=Wards | publisher=East Cambridgeshire District Council | access-date=8 November 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022095707/http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/democracy/democracy-elections/Wards | archive-date=22 October 2011 | url-status=live }} For elections to the Cambridgeshire County Council the city returns two councillors.{{cite web | url=http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/members.aspx | title=Your Councillors | publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council | access-date=23 June 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121045031/https://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/members.aspx | archive-date=21 November 2018 | url-status=live }}

{{Main article|Ely Urban District}}

The city was governed by a local board from 1850 until 1894, when it became the City of Ely Urban District Council, which then operated from 1894 to 1974. The Isle of Ely County Council governed the Isle of Ely administrative county that surrounding and included the city from 1889 to 1965. In 1965 there was a reform of local government that merged the county council with that of Cambridgeshire to form the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council. In 1974 as part of a national reform of local government, the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council merged with the Huntingdon and Peterborough County Council to form the Cambridgeshire County Council.{{cite web | url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/70/schedule/1 | title=Local Government Act 1972 – Schedule 1 | access-date=8 November 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701222339/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/70/schedule/1 | archive-date=1 July 2018 | url-status=live }} The City of Ely Urban District Council became the City of Ely Council, a parish council which covers the same area but with fewer powers, and the East Cambridgeshire District Council which covers a wider area.

{{See also|The Fens}}

{{Geographic location| Centre = Ely

| North = Chettisham

| Northeast = Queen Adelaide

| East = Prickwillow

| Southeast = River Great Ouse
Stuntney

| South = Little Thetford

| Southwest = Witchford

| West = Witcham

| Northwest = Little Downham

| image =

}}

File:Isle of Ely 1648 by J Blaeu.jpg still surrounded by water
Joan Blaeu (1648) Regiones Inundatae]]

The west of Cambridgeshire is made up of limestones from the Jurassic period, whilst the east Cambridgeshire area consists of Cretaceous (upper Mesozoic) chalks known locally as clunch.{{cite news|last=Pearce|first=Ian|title=Gone for clunch|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/06/29/goneforclunch_feature.shtml|access-date=12 November 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=3 July 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831191543/http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/06/29/goneforclunch_feature.shtml|archive-date=31 August 2011|url-status=live}} In between these two major formations, the high ground forming the Isle of Ely is from a lower division Cretaceous system known as Lower Greensand which is capped by Boulder Clay; all local settlements, such as Stretham and Littleport, are on similar islands. These islands rise above the surrounding flat land which forms the largest plain of Britain{{refn|"Largest ...", according to Miller and Skertchley (1878) "... by reason of its magnitude, its almost unbroken flatness, and its fertility".{{Harvnb|Miller|Skertchly|1878|p=1}}|group=lower-roman}} from the Jurassic system of partly consolidated clays or muds. Kimmeridge Clay beds dipping gently west underlie the Lower Greensand of the area exposed, for example, about {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in|0}} south of Ely in the Roswell Pits.{{Harvnb|Marr|Thomas|1967|p=9}} The Lower Greensand is partly capped by glacial deposits forming the highest point in East Cambridgeshire, rising to {{convert|85|ft|m|0}} above sea level in Ely.{{cite map|publisher = British Geological Survey |title = Ely (S&D)|year = 1980|scale = 1:50000|edition = Based on 1st series 1:50,000 map part of sheet 173 – 1974|section = 173|isbn=0-7518-0573-4}}

The low-lying fens surrounding the island of Ely were formed, prior to the 17th century, by alternate fresh water and sea water incursions. Major rivers in the region, including the Witham, Welland, Nene and Great Ouse, drain an area of some {{convert|6000|sqmi|km2}}—five times larger than the fens—into the basin that forms the fens.{{Harvnb|Summers|1976|p=14}} Defoe in 1774 described the Fens as "the sink of no less than thirteen Counties".{{Harvnb|Defoe|1891|p=161}} On 23 November of that year, Church of England cleric and Christian theologician John Wesley, wrote of his approach to Ely after visiting Norwich: "about eight, Wednesday, 23, Mr. Dancer met me with a chaise [carriage] and carried me to Ely. Oh, what want of common sense! Water covered the high road for a mile and a half. I asked, 'How must foot-people come to the town?' 'Why, they must wade through!{{'"}}{{cite web|last=Wesley|first=John|title=Wesley in the Fens|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=J_Wesley&c_id=17|work=A vision of Britain through time|publisher=University of Portsmouth and others|access-date=19 November 2011|author-link=John Wesley|date=22 November 1774|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226084814/http://visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=J_Wesley&c_id=17|archive-date=26 December 2010|url-status=live}} Peat formed in the fresh-water swamps and meres whilst silts were deposited by the slow-moving sea-water. Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford, supported by Parliament, financed the draining of the fens during the 17th century, led by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden; the fens continue to be drained to this day.{{Harvnb|Summers|1976|pp=67–68}}

With an average annual rainfall of {{convert|24|in|mm|-2}}, Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the British Isles. Protected from the cool onshore coastal breezes east of the region, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter.{{Harvnb|Greig|Martin|1998|p=305}} Regional weather forecasting and historical summaries are available from the UK Met Office.{{cite web| title = Forecast:East of England| work = UK Climate Forecasts| url = http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ee/ee_forecast_weather.html| access-date = 5 June 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100209234016/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ee/ee_forecast_weather.html| archive-date = 9 February 2010| url-status = live}}{{cite web|title=Historical Data:Regional:Cambridge NIAB |work=UK Climate Summaries |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/cambridgedata.txt |access-date=5 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629215430/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/cambridgedata.txt |archive-date=29 June 2011 }} The nearest Met Office weather station is Cambridge.The UK Metrology Office weather station identifier for Cambridge is NIAB Additional local weather stations report periodic figures to the internet such as Weather Underground, Inc.{{cite web| title = Ely, United Kingdom| publisher = Weather Underground, Inc| year = 2010| url = http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=ely,%20uk&wuSelect=WEATHER| access-date = 5 June 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112042449/http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=ely,%20uk&wuSelect=WEATHER| archive-date = 12 January 2012| url-status = live}}

{{Cambridge weatherbox}}

{{Clear}}

The Domesday survey of 1086 revealed 110 households{{cite web|title=Ely. Draft Report|url=http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6E15077F-AB5B-4B0B-99B7-788D70B1F035/0/EUSECambsEly.pdf|work=Cambridgeshire Extensive Urban Survey|publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeology Unit|access-date=22 November 2011|page=12|date=17 January 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929075551/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6E15077F-AB5B-4B0B-99B7-788D70B1F035/0/EUSECambsEly.pdf|archive-date=29 September 2011|url-status=dead}} which were mainly rural.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=34}} In 1251, a survey showed an increase to 345 households with the start of urban living although still largely rural. By the 1416 survey there were 457 occupied premises in the city and many of the streets were arranged much as they are today. See also the cartographer John Speed's plan of Ely, 1610. In 1563 there were 800 households and by 1753 the population was recorded as 3,000.

As an island surrounded by marshes and meres, the fishing of eels was important as both a food and an income for the abbot and his nearby tenants. For example, to the abbot of Ely in 1086, Stuntenei was worth 24,000 eels, Litelport 17,000 eels and even the small village of Liteltetford was worth 3,250 eels.{{cite web|title=Cambridgeshire|url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/cambridgeshire2.html|work=Domesday on-line|publisher=Domesdaybook.co.uk|access-date=4 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118001758/http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/cambridgeshire2.html|archive-date=18 January 2012|url-status=live}} Prior to the extensive and largely successful drainage of the fens during the seventeenth century, Ely was a trade centre for goods made out of willow, reeds and rushes and wild fowling was a major local activity.{{Harvnb|Summers|1976|pp=10–11}} Peat in the form of "turf" was used as a fuel and in the form of "moor" as a building material.{{refn|Turf is "Unweathered peat worked for fuel in 'turbaries'" and moor is "weathered peat unsuitable for fuel"{{Harvnb|Gallois|Cox|Ivimey-Cook|Morter|Seale|1988|p=92}}|group=lower-roman}} Ampthill Clay was dug from the local area for the maintenance of river banks and Kimmeridge Clay at Roswell Pits for the making of pottery wares.{{Harvnb|Gallois|Cox|Ivimey-Cook|Morter|Seale|1988|pp=89–90}} In general, from a geological perspective, "The district is almost entirely agricultural and has always been so. The only mineral worked at the present time is gravel for aggregate, although chalk, brick clay (Ampthill and Kimmeridge clays), phosphate (from Woburn Sands, Gault and Cambridge Greensand), sand and gravel, and peat have been worked on a small scale in the past".{{Harvnb|Gallois|Cox|Ivimey-Cook|Morter|Seale|1988|p=1}}

Phosphate nodules, referred to locally as coprolites,{{refn|The word coprolite is from the Greek kopros which means dung and lithos which means stone. The word was first coined in 1829 by Rev. William Buckland and is a misnomer as the nodules are fossilised bone{{cite journal| last1=O'Connor| first1=Bernard| last2=Ford|first2=T.| year=2001| title=The origins and development of the British coprolite industry|publisher=Mining History: The Bulletin of the Peak District Historical Mines Society| volume= 14|issue= 5}}|group=lower-roman}} were dug in the area surrounding Ely between 1850 and 1890 for use as an agricultural fertiliser. This industry provided significant employment for the local labour force.{{Harvnb|Gallois|Cox|Ivimey-Cook|Morter|Seale|1988|pp=91–92}} One of the largest sugar beet factories in England was opened in Queen Adelaide, {{convert|2|mi|km|0|spell=in}} from the centre of Ely, in 1925.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=47}} The factory closed in 1981, although sugar beet is still farmed locally.{{cite web|title=Key dates in the UK sugar industry|url=http://www.nfusugar.com/Reference-Documents/Key-dates-in-the-UK-sugar-industry/|work=NFU Sugar|publisher=National Farmers Union|access-date=4 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118130240/http://www.nfusugar.com/Reference-Documents/Key-dates-in-the-UK-sugar-industry/|archive-date=18 January 2012|url-status=dead}}

Pottery was made in Ely from the 12th century until 1860:{{Harvnb|Cessford|Alexander|Dickens|2006|pp=83, 98}} records show around 80 people who classed their trade as potters.{{Harvnb|Cessford|Alexander|Dickens|2006|p=83}} "Babylon ware" is the name given to pottery made in one area of Ely. This ware is thought to be so named because there were potters in an area cut off from the centre by the re-routing of the River Great Ouse around 1200; by the 17th century this area had become known as Babylon. Although the reason for the name is unclear, by 1850 it was in official use on maps. The building of the Ely to King's Lynn railway in 1847 cut the area off even further, and the inhabitants could only cross to Ely by boat.{{cite web|title=Babylon Gallery blog|url=http://babylongallery-blog.co.uk/?page_id=37|publisher=ADrCArts|access-date=16 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111150712/http://babylongallery-blog.co.uk/?page_id=37|archive-date=11 January 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|title=News: Post-medieval pottery collection found in Ely|journal=British Archaeology|date=October 2000|issue=55|editor1-first=Simon|editor1-last=Denison|issn=1357-4442}}

File:Eel day parade.jpg carnival procession down Fore Hill, 2007]]

Annual fairs have been held in Ely since the twelfth century.{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=48}} Saint Audrey's (Etheldreda's) seven-day fair, held either side of 23 June, was first granted officially by Henry I to the abbot and convent on 10 October 1189.{{cite web|last=Letters|first=Samantha|title=Ely|url=http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html|work=Online Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England Wales to 1516|publisher=Institute of Historical research|access-date=14 November 2011|date=15 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609094005/http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html|archive-date=9 June 2007|url-status=live}} At this fair, cheap necklaces, made from brightly coloured silk, were sold—these were called "tawdry lace".{{cite web|title=Tawdry lace|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/198240|work=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=9 November 2011}}{{subscription required}} "Tawdry", a corruption of "Saint Audrey", now means "pertaining to the nature of cheap and gaudy finery".{{cite web|title=Tawdry|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/198239|work=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=9 November 2011}}{{subscription required}} Two other fairs, the 15‑day festival of St Lambert, first granted in 1312 and the 22‑day fair beginning on the Vigil of the Ascension, first granted in 1318. The festival of St Lambert had stopped by the eighteenth century. St Etheldreda's and the Vigil of the Ascension markets still continue, although the number of days have been considerably reduced and the dates have changed.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=50}}

Present-day annual events in Ely include Aquafest, which has been staged at the riverside by the Rotary Club on the first Sunday of July since 1978.{{refn|"[The Aquafest has been held] annually since 1977"{{Harvnb|Blakeman|1990|loc=p. 114 para. 2 and errata}}|group=lower-roman}}{{cite web|title=Ely Aquafest|url=http://www.elyaquafest.org.uk/|publisher=Rotary clubs of Ely|access-date=2 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425131001/http://www.elyaquafest.org.uk/|archive-date=25 April 2012|url-status=live}} Other events include the Eel Day carnival procession{{cite press release |title=Eely best place to spend your weekend |publisher=East Cambridgeshire District Council |date=15 April 2011 |url=http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/press/eely-best-place-spend-your-weekend |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118150533/http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/press/eely-best-place-spend-your-weekend |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=dead }} and the annual fireworks display in Ely Park, first staged in 1974.{{cite news|title=Ely Fireworks – Back with a Bang in 2011!|url=http://www.elypeople.co.uk/Ely-Fireworks-Bang-2011/story-13539691-detail/story.html|access-date=30 October 2011|newspaper=Ely People|date=12 October 2011|agency=Northcliffe Media Limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615230205/http://www.elypeople.co.uk/Ely-Fireworks-Bang-2011/story-13539691-detail/story.html|archive-date=15 June 2012|url-status=usurped}} The Ely Folk Festival has been held in the city since 1985.{{cite news|title=The 2011 Ely Folk Festival Has It All|url=http://www.elypeople.co.uk/2011-Ely-Folk-Festival/story-12813953-detail/story.html|access-date=30 October 2011|newspaper=Ely People|date=22 June 2011|agency=Northcliffe Media Limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615230635/http://www.elypeople.co.uk/2011-Ely-Folk-Festival/story-12813953-detail/story.html|archive-date=15 June 2012|url-status=usurped}} The Ely Horticultural Society have been staging their Great Autumn Show since 1927.{{cite news|title=Ely Horticultural Society 2011 Great Autumn Show|url=http://www.elypeople.co.uk/pictures/Ely-Horticultural-Society-2011-Great-Autumn/pictures-13242421-detail/pictures.html|access-date=30 October 2011|newspaper=Ely People|date=1 September 2011|agency=Northcliffe Media Limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615230833/http://www.elypeople.co.uk/pictures/Ely-Horticultural-Society-2011-Great-Autumn/pictures-13242421-detail/pictures.html|archive-date=15 June 2012|url-status=usurped}} In 2018 Ely hosted the "Pride" festival, celebrating LGBT and diversity. At the inaugural festival "For the Hornets" headlined and the cathedral flew the pride rainbow flag.{{cite news|title=Ely Cathedral will fly the rainbow flag|url=https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/ely-pride-festival-flag-cathedral-14999588|newspaper=Cambridge Evening News|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726125541/https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/ely-pride-festival-flag-cathedral-14999588|archive-date=26 July 2019|url-status=live}}

Since September 1956, Ely has been twinned with Ribe, Denmark's oldest town and part of the Municipality of Esbjerg; officials from Ribe first came to Ely in 1957. The golden anniversary of this twinning was celebrated in 2006.{{cite news|title=Ely marks 60 years of twinning with Denmark's oldest town, Ribe|url=https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/ely-marks-60-years-of-twinning-with-denmark-s-oldest-town-ribe-1-4060267|access-date=29 March 2020|newspaper=Ely Standard|date=5 May 2005|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329200427/https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/ely-marks-60-years-of-twinning-with-denmark-s-oldest-town-ribe-1-4060267|url-status=dead}} Exchange visits occur roughly every two years.{{cite web|last=Ely-Ribe Association|title=Ely/Ribe Tapestry|url=http://www.elyribe-tapestry.co.uk/|access-date=29 March 2020|archive-date=3 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103051216/http://elyribe-tapestry.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}

The city of Ely has several visitor attractions, including The Stained Glass Museum, the only museum dedicated to stained glass in the UK.{{Cite web |title=About Us The Stained Glass Museum, Ely |url=https://stainedglassmuseum.com/aboutus |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=stainedglassmuseum.com}} The Stained Glass Museum is located inside Ely Cathedral and has a collection of stained glass from the 13th century to the present day.{{Cite web |title=About Us The Stained Glass Museum, Ely |url=https://stainedglassmuseum.com/aboutus |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=stainedglassmuseum.com}} Ely Museum, housed in the old city gaol, is a local history museum which tells the story of Ely and the surrounding Fens from pre-historic times to the present day.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.elymuseum.org.uk/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=Ely Museum |language=en-GB}} Oliver Cromwell's House is the former family home of Oliver Cromwell, and houses an exhibition about Cromwell and the English Civil War.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. The city receives its television signals from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter.{{cite web | url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sandy_Heath | title=Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter | date=May 2004 }}

Ely's local radio stations are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on 96.0 FM, Heart East on 103.0 FM and Star Radio on 107.1.

Local newspapers are the Ely Standard and Cambridge News.

File:Canonical countershoted castellated cathedral over culverin.jpg at the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855){{cite web|title=Cannon on The Green|url=http://www.ukattraction.com/east-of-england/canon-on-the-green.htm|work=(This web site is not WP:RS but will do until something better is found)|publisher=UK Attraction|access-date=31 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119194938/http://www.ukattraction.com/east-of-england/canon-on-the-green.htm|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=live}} and was presented to the people of Ely by Queen Victoria in 1860. It is located on the Palace Green west of Ely Cathedral and northwest of the Bishop's Palace.{{cite web|last=Grytr|title=Peaceful inscription: Commemorative inscription alongside the cannon displayed on the green outside Ely Cathedral|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/grytr/269234071|work=Flickr|date=13 October 2006|publisher=Flickr/Yahoo|access-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120073535/https://www.flickr.com/photos/grytr/269234071|archive-date=20 November 2015|url-status=live}}]]

A cannon, captured during the Crimean War at the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) and given to Ely by Queen Victoria in 1860, is located on Palace Green, west of the cathedral. The inscription reads "Russian cannon captured during the Crimean War presented to the people of Ely by Queen Victoria in 1860 to mark the creation of the Ely Rifle Volunteers". The cannon was cast{{refn|Chiselled into the ends of the trunnions of the gun is the "vital data"; the serial number, name of factory and director's name on one side, and the calibre, weight and date of manufacture on the other{{Harvnb|Carpenter|1993|p=147}}|group=lower-roman}} at the Alexandrovski factory in 1802, the factory's director being the Englishman, Charles Gascoigne. The serial number is 8726. The calibre is {{convert|30|lb|kg}} and the weight is 252 poods, or about {{convert|9000|lb|kg}}.{{Harvnb|Carpenter|1993|p=187}} The cannon is mounted on an iron carriage which would previously have been mounted on a "heavy iron traversing slide" known as 'Systeme Venglov 1853'.{{cite web|title=1861 Russian Gun Carriage:320772950956|url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320772950956#ht_500wt_1054|publisher=eBay.com|access-date=21 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223033951/http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320772950956#ht_500wt_1054|archive-date=23 February 2014|url-status=dead}} The Ely Rifle Volunteers, formed in 1860, became part of the Cambridgeshire Regiment during 1914–1918 then subsequently part of the Royal Anglian Regiment until disbanded in 1999.{{cite web|title=The volunteer force|url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Regiments/cambregt.html|work=The Cambridgeshire Regiment|publisher=Royal British Legion|access-date=21 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105020358/http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Regiments/cambregt.html|archive-date=5 January 2012|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Listed buildings in Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely Cathedral|label 1=Listed buildings in Ely}}

There are 23 Grade I, six Grade II* and 153 Grade II listed buildings{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings/ |title=Listed Buildings |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=24 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126151823/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings |archive-date=26 January 2013 }} in the city of Ely.{{cite web|title=County: Cambridgeshire; Postal town: ELY; Place name: Ely; Building grade: Grade I|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/|work=National Monument Record|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=15 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113101948/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/|archive-date=13 November 2011|url-status=live}}{{registration required}}

Cherry Hill, to the south of Cathedral Park, is the remains of the Norman period, motte and bailey, Ely Castle.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=28}} The earliest written record of this {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} by {{convert|250|ft|m|adj=mid|-diameter}} castle is in the time of Henry I.

Two 12th century hospitals, St Mary Magdalene founded 1172 and St John the Baptist founded {{circa}} 1200, were on the site of what is now a four-building farmstead in West End. Building dates are not known but the extant remains indicate {{circa}} 1175–85.{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=376}}William Franklin (2018), The Hospital of St John and St Mary Magdalene in Ely and its successor, St John's Farm, Ely: Ely History Publications Bishop Northwold merged the two hospitals in 1240. The farmstead Grade I listed building status was graded on 23 September 1950 between four properties: St John's farmhouse,{{NHLE |num=1167882 |desc=St John's Farmhouse medieval (Grade I) |access-date=31 October 2011}} a barn to the southwest (formerly chapel of St John),{{NHLE |num=1126456 |desc=Barn to southwest of St John's Farmhouse (Grade I) |access-date=31 October 2011}} a barn to the north (formerly chapel of St Mary){{NHLE |num=1126455 |desc=Barn to north of St John's Farmhouse (Grade I) |access-date=31 October 2011}} and a dovecote.{{NHLE |num=1331739 |desc=Dovecote to St John's Farm (Grade I) |access-date=31 October 2011}} Above the north doorway of the southwestern barn of St John's farmhouse is a carved Barnack stone which is built into the 13th century wall. The stone is thought to have been robbed from the Anglo-Saxon monastery of St Etheldreda.{{refn|Cobbett writes "I do not claim that this stone formed part of Ethelreda's original monastery, and is of seventh century date, though this is just possible; but rather that it belonged to the monastery which she founded in 673 and was carried on by her royal sisters after her death".{{cite journal|last=Cobbett|first=L.|title=The hospitals of St John the Baptist and St Mary Magdalene at Ely, and the remains of Gothic buildings still to be seen there at St John's Farm|journal=Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. 1932–1936|date=27 May 1935|volume=34–37|page=73}}|group=lower-roman}} This heavily weathered 8th century stone shows a man blowing a horn whilst riding on an ox.{{PastScape|mname=Hospitals of St Mary Magdalene and St John the Baptist|mnumber=375292|access-date=8 November 2011}}{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=382}}

John Alcock, Bishop of Ely and founder of Jesus College, Cambridge,{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=83}} constructed the Bishop's Palace during his bishopric, between 1486 and 1500;{{ODNBweb|id=289|title=Alcock, John}} of the original fabric, only the east tower and the lower part of the west tower remain.{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=378}} A "startlingly huge" London Plane tree, planted in 1680, still grows in the garden and is "said to be one of the largest in England".{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=379}}{{cite web|title=London plane in the garden of the Bishop's palace in Ely|url=http://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/gbr/england/cambridgeshire/2299_bishopspalace/|work=Monumental trees|publisher=Monumental trees.com|access-date=4 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605210556/http://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/gbr/england/cambridgeshire/2299_bishopspalace/|archive-date=5 June 2012|url-status=live}} Benjamin Lany, Bishop of Ely from 1667 until 1675, demolished much of Alcock's work and thus became responsible for most of the present-day building.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=82}} This Grade I listed building is southwest of and close to the west end of the cathedral, opposite the original village green, now named Palace Green.{{NHLE |num=1296856 |desc=– Bishop's Palace, Palace Green, Ely (Grade I) |access-date=21 November 2011}}

St Mary's Vicarage, better known locally as Cromwell's House, is a Grade II* listed building of mainly 16th century plaster-frame construction although there exist some stone arches, {{circa}} 1380. A plaque on the front of the house records that this is "Cromwell House, the residence of Oliver Cromwell from 1636 to 1647 when collector of Ely Tithes". Between 1843 and 1847 the house was the Cromwell Arms public house and it was restored in 1905 when it was given its "timbered appearance".{{Harvnb|Blakeman|1990|loc=p. 49 with {{circa}} 1870 engraving}} The house was opened as a re-creation of seventeenth-century living and a tourist information centre on 6 December 1990.{{cite web|title=Oliver Cromwell's House|url=http://visitely.eastcambs.gov.uk/cromwell/oliver-cromwells-house|work=Council web site|publisher=East Cambridgeshire District Council|access-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101061128/http://visitely.eastcambs.gov.uk/cromwell/oliver-cromwells-house|archive-date=1 November 2011|url-status=live}} The former Ely Gaol is a late seventeenth-century Grade II listed building{{NHLE |num=1126487 |desc=4 Lynn Road (east side) Ely, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire (Grade II) |access-date=4 December 2011}} which since has been the Ely museum.{{cite web|title=About Ely Museum|url=http://www.elymuseum.org.uk/about/|work=Ely museum at the old gaol|publisher=Ely museum charity No. 274253|access-date=4 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206061153/http://www.elymuseum.org.uk/about/|archive-date=6 December 2011|url-status=dead}} From the thirteenth century, buildings on this site have been; a private house, a tavern and—since 1836 when the Bishop transferred his thirteenth-century prison from Ely Porta—the Bishop's Gaol.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=31}} It was a registry office prior to becoming a museum.

The Maltings is another of Ely's distinguishing buildings. Built in 1868 as part of Ebenezer William Harlock's brewery complex, the Maltings was used to process locally grown barley into Malt for brewing.{{cite web |title=About The Maltings |url=http://www.themaltingsely.org.uk/about-the-maltings |website=The Maltings |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603200026/http://www.themaltingsely.org.uk/about-the-maltings |archive-date=3 June 2018 |url-status=live }} The Maltings is located on Ely's Waterside and has since left its brewing days behind. It is now a venue that hosts live events and entertainment as well as private functions such as weddings and business conferences.{{cite web |title=Welcome to The Maltings |url=http://www.themaltingsely.org.uk/ |website=The Maltings |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604101727/http://www.themaltingsely.org.uk/ |archive-date=4 June 2018 |url-status=live }}

The Maltings is also home to the Ely-Ribe Tapestry.{{cite web |title=The Ely-Ribe Tapestry |url=http://www.themaltingsely.org.uk/about-the-maltings |website=The Maltings |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603200026/http://www.themaltingsely.org.uk/about-the-maltings |archive-date=3 June 2018 |url-status=live }} The Ely-Ribe Tapestry was commissioned in 2004 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the twinning of the two towns; Ely in Cambridgeshire England and Ribe in Jutland, Denmark.{{cite web |title=Ely-Ribe Tapestry |url=http://www.elyribe-tapestry.co.uk/ |website=Ely-Ribe Tapestry |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103051216/http://elyribe-tapestry.co.uk/ |archive-date=3 January 2019 |url-status=live }} The designer, Ullrich described the Tapestry as "a portrait of two different cities in two different countries".{{cite web |title=The Designers View |url=http://www.elyribe-tapestry.co.uk/tapestry/designer.asp |website=Ely-Ribe Tapestry |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518105548/http://www.elyribe-tapestry.co.uk/tapestry/designer.asp |archive-date=18 May 2018 |url-status=live }}

The Lamb Hotel is a Grade II listed building which is prominently situated on the corner of Lynn Road and High Street {{convert|100|yd|m}} north of the west end of the cathedral.{{NHLE |num=1331716 |desc=Lamb Hotel, 2 Lynn Road (east side) (Grade II) |access-date=29 November 2011}} The hotel was erected as a coaching house on the site of the previous Lamb Inn during 1828 and 1829. At that time it had stabling for 30 horses and a lock-up for two coaches.{{cite book|last1=Ashton|first1=Patrick|last2=Blakeman|first2=Pamela|last3=Holmes|first3=Reg|title=Ely Inns: A History of Ely Inns and Beer Houses|year=2007|publisher=The Ely Society|location=Ely|isbn=978-0-903616-23-2|url=https://ibistro.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/zIiozucqxh/WEB/67280061/9|access-date=26 November 2011|pages=54–56}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 1906 it had five bedrooms for the landlord, 15 rooms for lodgers, room for 15 horses and 12 vehicles. In 2007 it had 31 rooms for guests. It is claimed that an inn has existed on the site since Bishop Fordham's survey between 1416 and 1417.{{cite book|last1=Holmes|first1=Reg|last2=Blakeman|first2=Pamela|title=Ely Inns|year=1984|publisher=Local History Publications Board|location=Ely|url=https://ibistro.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/ywfzjVKCh7/WEB/310320025/9|access-date=26 November 2011|pages=30–31}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} It is also claimed that an inn existed on the site in 1690, but no earlier.{{Harvnb|Holton-Krayenbuhl|2011|p=83}}

The city's courthouse was built in 1821, being known both as Shire Hall and Sessions House.{{NHLE|desc=Sessions House, Shire Hall, Lynn Road, Ely|num=1296765|fewer-links=yes}}{{cite news|title=What is to become of the Ely Courthouse?|url=http://www.elypeople.co.uk/news/Ely-Courthouse/story-10936741-detail/story.html|access-date=4 November 2011|newspaper=Ely People|date=8 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322142930/http://www.elypeople.co.uk/news/Ely-Courthouse/story-10936741-detail/story.html|archive-date=22 March 2012|url-status=usurped}} It ceased operation in 2011 as part of central government measures to close 93 magistrates' courts across England and Wales.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-12847768|date=24 March 2011|access-date=14 April 2011|title=Ely Magistrates' Court closes doors for the last time|newspaper=BBC News|publisher=BBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326043118/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-12847768|archive-date=26 March 2011|url-status=live}} The building was subsequently acquired by City of Ely Council in 2013 to serve as their offices and meeting place.{{cite news |last1=Mansfield |first1=Daniel |title=Ely Magistrates' Court bought for just £1 by City of Ely Council |url=https://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/ely-magistrates-court-bought-for-just-1-by-city-of-4842768 |access-date=19 June 2022 |work=Cambs Times |date=26 March 2013}}

{{further|Ely Castle|Roswell Pits|Chettisham Meadow}}

The former Kimmeridge Clay quarry Roswell Pits, {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} southwest of Ely Cathedral, is now a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).{{cite web|title=Roswell Pits|url=http://www.wildlifebcnp.org/reserves/reserve.php?reserveid=63|work=The Wildlife Trusts|publisher=Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trusts|access-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927163241/http://www.wildlifebcnp.org/reserves/reserve.php?reserveid=63|archive-date=27 September 2011|url-status=dead}} The trees in Abbey Park were planted on Mount Hill in 1779 by James Bentham, a minor canon of Ely. Ely Castle once stood on Mount Hill, which was renamed Cherry Hill following the tree plantings by Bentham.{{cite web|title=Abbey Park|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=6184&resourceID=300|work=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728183858/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=6184&resourceID=300|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Abbey Park|url=http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,6184/tab,description/Itemid,/|work=Parks & Gardens UK|publisher=The Association of Gardens Trusts and the University of York|access-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118113626/http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,6184/tab,description/Itemid,/|archive-date=18 January 2012|url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=55}} The Chettisham Meadow SSSI is a medieval ridge and furrow grassland about {{convert|0.6|mi|km|0}} north of the city centre.{{cite web|last=Russell|first=Nigel|title=Chettisham Meadows: SSSI reference 1000052|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/special/sssi/unit_details.cfm?situnt_id=1000052|work=Natural England|publisher=UK Government|access-date=14 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119053457/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/special/sssi/unit_details.cfm?situnt_id=1000052|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=live}} This site, one of the UK's best remaining examples of ridge and furrow agriculture, also contains protected species such as the Green-winged Orchid.{{cite web|last=Stubbington|first=Paul|title=Ely master plan: report number 14555/02/PS/JFR: Infrastructure and constraints assessment|url=http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf|page=18|publisher=Cambridgeshire Horizons|access-date=14 November 2011|date=January 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011}}

File:Illustrated London News Vol XI 30 October 1847 p 277 Ely Station.jpgBy kind permission of the Cambridgeshire Library Service from The Illustrated London News of the station at Ely during the opening on 25 October 1847 of the Lynn and Ely Railway, now part of the Fen Line{{cite news|title=The East Anglian Railway|newspaper=The Illustrated London News|date=30 October 1847|location=Strand, London|page=277}}]]

{{main|Railways in Ely}}

Ely railway station, on the Fen Line, is a major railway hub, with the {{rws|Cambridge}} to Ely section opening in 1845. Five major railway lines — excluding the former Ely and St Ives Railway — emanate from this hub: north to {{rws|King's Lynn}}, northwest to {{rws|Peterborough}}, east to {{rws|Norwich}}, southeast to {{rws|Ipswich}} and south to Cambridge and London.{{cite web|last=Stubbington|first=Paul|title=Ely master plan: report number 14555/02/PS/JFR: Infrastructure and constraints assessment|url=http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf|page=4|publisher=Cambridgeshire Horizons|access-date=14 November 2011|date=January 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175121/http://www.urbed.com/cgi-bin/get_binary_doc_object.cgi?doc_id=276&fname=extra_pdf_2.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011}} At the opening of the {{convert|26+1/2|mi|km|1|adj=on}} Lynn and Ely railway "with great éclat" on 25 October 1847, the Ely station building,{{refn|"The present temporary Station at Ely, having been found insufficient, orders were given last Tuesday, for extensive additional buildings" Ely Chronicle 10 January 1846{{cite book|last=Wallace |first=Muriel |title=Notes from the Ely Chronicle: Transcripts of Stories 1820–1860|volume=VII|year=2008}}|group=lower-roman}} completed in 1847,{{Harvnb|Pevsner|1977|p=381}} was described by The Illustrated London News as "an extensive pileOED pile, n. 2. a. "[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/143824 A large building or edifice, esp. a stately home]"{{subscription required}} in pleasing mixed Grecian and Italian style". The former Ely and St Ives Railway, known locally as the Grunty Fen Express,{{Harvnb|Dale|2000|p=78}} opened in 1865 but was never popular. In 1866, the {{convert|7+1/2|mi|km|1|adj=on}} return journey from Ely to Sutton-in-the-Isle cost two shillings,Oppitz (1989) pp. 58–59 which equates to a cost of almost £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|0.1|1866}}|0}}Using RPI as described in [http://www.measuringworth.com/indicator.html Choosing the Best Indicator to Measure Relative Worth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929220803/http://www.measuringworth.com/indicator.html |date=29 September 2011 }} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}.{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} The line closed to passengers in February 1931 and completely closed in 1964.{{Harvnb|Dale|2000|p=28}} {{As of|December 2016}}, train operating companies using Ely were: Great Northern, Greater Anglia, CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway with direct trains to Cambridge, London, most of East Anglia, the Midlands and the North. There are connecting services to many other parts of England and to Scotland.{{cite web|title=Find my train times & fares|url=http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/|work=National Rail Enquiries|publisher=Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)|access-date=21 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225033735/http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/|archive-date=25 February 2011|url-status=live}}

{{clear}}

A Roman road, named Akeman Street,{{refn|Dorman calls it Akerman Street{{Harvnb|Dorman|1986|p=3}}|group=lower-roman}} has been documented from Ermine Street near Wimpole through Cambridge, Stretham and Ely to Brancaster through Denver.{{Harvnb|Babington|1853|pp=10–12}} This is not the same road as the major Roman road named Akeman Street which started from Verulamium (southwest of St Albans) then via Tring and Aylesbury terminating near Alchester.{{Harvnb|Babington|1853|p=17}} In Bishop John Fordham's survey of Ely in 1416–1417, an east to west Akermanstrete or Agemanstrete is mentioned, which now forms part of the east–west Egremont Street.{{Harvnb|Stewart|1868|pp=195–196}} Akeman Street would have been oriented north-south passing through central Ely and therefore the east–west oriented Egremont Street cannot have a Roman origin.{{Harvnb|Babington|1853|p=16}} It is suggested that the Wimpole to Brancaster road name of "Akeman" was derived by antiquarians, without justification, from Acemanes-ceastre, an ancient name for Bath.{{Harvnb|Gray|Stubbings|2000|pp=2–3}}

File:Boundary Marker - geograph.org.uk - 1714439.jpg

Medieval accountant, Clement of Thetford made, or had others make on his behalf, many journeys between 1291 and 1292, as evidenced by his sacrist's rolls—the earliest known roll of the Ely Monastery.{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=F. R.|title=Sacrist Rolls of Ely|year=1907|url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/ely-cathedral/sacrist-rolls-of-ely-volume-1-cyl/page-2-sacrist-rolls-of-ely-volume-1-cyl.shtml|location=Cambridge|access-date=25 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026051235/http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/ely-cathedral/sacrist-rolls-of-ely-volume-1-cyl/page-2-sacrist-rolls-of-ely-volume-1-cyl.shtml|archive-date=26 October 2012|url-status=live}} For example, he travelled the {{convert|25|mi|km}}This distance and all following medieval road distances are calculated on contemporary roads using Google Maps to Bury (Bury St Edmunds) fair to obtain rice, sugar, etc., the {{convert|16|mi|km}} to Barnwell for wheels, axles, etc. for carts, then the {{convert|51|mi|km}} to St Botolph's (Boston) for wine, the {{convert|14|mi|km}} to Reche (Reach) for steel and iron and the {{convert|78|mi|km}} to London, principally for things needed in the vestry for the service of the Church, but also to pay taxes. Some or parts of these journeys will have been made by river.{{cite web|last=Harrington|first=Ralph|title=Transport: then, now, and tomorrow|url=http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/papers/carmen.htm|work=Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History|publisher=University of York|access-date=25 November 2011|date=15 November 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704094947/http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/papers/carmen.htm|archive-date=4 July 2011|url-status=live}}

The 18th century historian Edmund Carter, in his 1753 History of the County of Cambridge &c., described a thrice-weekly coach journey "for the conveniency of sending and receiving letters and small parcels" from the Lamb Inn, Ely to the post-house, Cambridge.{{Harvnb|Carter|1753|p=64}} In the 1760s, the Reverend James Bentham, an antiquarian and minor canon of Ely, encouraged the ecclesiastical authorities and townspeople of Ely to subscribe{{refn|"An Act for repairing, widening, turning and keeping in Repair, the Road from the Town of Cambridge to Ely, and from thence to Soham; and for building a Bridge cross the River Ouze, at or near a Place called Stretham Ferry, in the County of Cambridge"{{cite web|title=Public Act, 3 George III, c. 36|url=http://www.portcullis.parliament.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28%28text%29%3D%27Ely%27%29AND%28Date%3D%271763%27%29AND%28MgtGroup%3D%27Acts%20of%20Parliament%2FLaws%2FLegislation%27%29%29|work=www.parliament.uk|publisher=UK parliament|access-date=6 December 2011|year=1763}}|group=lower-roman}} to a turnpike road between Ely and Cambridge; improvements which started in 1769.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=44}} The eighteenth century London to King's Lynn coach route, documented by the Postmaster General's surveyor, John Cary, passed through Ely with a stop at the Lamb Inn, a coaching inn in 1753{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=32}} and extant as the Lamb Hotel.{{Harvnb|Cary|1817|p=58}} Cary measured the distance of the London (Shoreditch) to Ely section as being {{convert|67|mi|km}}.{{Cite map|publisher = John Cary|title = The Road from London to Cambridge, Ely, & Kings Lynn|url = http://www.maproom.org/00/18/present.php?m=0001|edition = 7|access-date = 7 November 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110930230217/http://www.maproom.org/00/18/present.php?m=0001|archive-date = 30 September 2011|url-status = live}} The A142 road from Newmarket to Chatteris passes to the south of the town.

Ely is on the north-south A10 road from London to King's Lynn; the southwestern bypass of the town was built in 1986.{{cite web|title=Ely. Draft Report|url=http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6E15077F-AB5B-4B0B-99B7-788D70B1F035/0/EUSECambsEly.pdf|work=Cambridgeshire Extensive Urban Survey|publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeology Unit|access-date=19 November 2011|page=44|date=17 January 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929075551/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6E15077F-AB5B-4B0B-99B7-788D70B1F035/0/EUSECambsEly.pdf|archive-date=29 September 2011|url-status=dead}} A proposal for an Ely southeast bypass of the A142 is included in the major schemes of the Cambridgeshire Local Transport Plan. The proposed route would include {{convert|1.2|mi|km}} of new road between new roundabout junctions on Stuntney Causeway and Angel Drove. The bypass is intended to reduce congestion in Ely, and to avoid the low bridge on the Ely to King's Lynn railway line, which has the third highest vehicle strike rate in the country.{{cite web|title=Part 3 LTP programme|url=http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8932742C-FF85-4CE5-B08D-2430C3E3D988/0/LTP06P3.pdf|work=Local Transport Plan|publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council|access-date=21 November 2011|year=2006–2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220021651/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8932742C-FF85-4CE5-B08D-2430C3E3D988/0/LTP06P3.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2012}} Proposals for the bypass went to public consultation in October 2011 and the county council and district council announced that they may fund some of the costs of construction (estimated to be up to £28 million){{cite news|title=Bypass bid to cut jams at crossing|newspaper=Cambridge Evening News|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Bypass-bid-to-cut-jams-at-crossing-25102011.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724011511/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Bypass-bid-to-cut-jams-at-crossing-25102011.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 July 2012|date=25 October 2011|access-date=4 November 2011}} with contributions from developers who wish to build a retail park near the proposed route.{{cite news| title=Have Your Say on the Ely Crossing| newspaper=Ely People| url=http://www.elypeople.co.uk/Say-Ely-Crossing/story-13590240-detail/story.html| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729093238/http://www.elypeople.co.uk/Say-Ely-Crossing/story-13590240-detail/story.html| url-status=usurped| archive-date=29 July 2012| date=18 October 2011| access-date=4 November 2011}}{{cite news|last=Day|first=Jordan|title=Tesco's plans for larger store welcomed by some residents|newspaper=Cambridge Evening News|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Get-with-it-message-for-Tesco-opponents-19102011.htm|date=19 October 2011|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022015658/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Get-with-it-message-for-Tesco-opponents-19102011.htm|archive-date=22 October 2011|url-status=live}}

The bypass, completed at £13m over budget, opened on 31 October 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2018-10-31/ely-bypass-to-open-today/|title=Long-awaited Ely bypass opens to traffic|website=ITV News|date=31 October 2018|access-date=31 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031173839/https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2018-10-31/ely-bypass-to-open-today/|archive-date=31 October 2018|url-status=live}}

The local rivers were historically important transport links but are now mainly used for leisure. The Great Ouse provides a link to the sea at King's Lynn, and the River Cam flows from Cambridge to join the Great Ouse to the south of Ely. King Cnut arrived at Ely by boat for the Purification of St Mary; "When they were approaching land [at Ely], the king rose up in the middle of his men and directed the boatmen to make for the little portHere Fairweather postulates that in the 10th century it may have been possible to "row considerably nearer to the monastery" than is possible today at full speed".{{Harvnb|Fairweather|2005|pp=181–182}} Archaeological excavations in the year 2000, between Broad Street and the present river, revealed artificially cut channels "at right-angles to the present river front" thus "evidently part of the medieval port of Ely".{{Harvnb|Fairweather|2005|p=xxxix}} In 1753, Carter reports that "for the conveniency of passengers, and heavy goods to and from Cambridge" a boat left Ely every Tuesday and Friday for Cambridge; the {{convert|20|mi|km|adj=on}} journey took six hours.

File:Ely Cathedral by John Buckler.JPG.]]{{main|Ely Cathedral}}

{{Further|Diocese of Ely}}

The Anglican Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity is known as the Ship of the Fens,{{cite news|title=Ely Cathedral |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/norfolk-history/35_ely_cathedral_1_214306 |access-date=27 October 2011 |newspaper=EDP24 |date=15 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114063325/http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/norfolk-history/35_ely_cathedral_1_214306 |archive-date=14 November 2011 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.elycathedral.org/history/ship_of_the_fens.html |title=Ely Cathedral website |publisher=Elycathedral.org |access-date=17 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712021225/http://www.elycathedral.org/history/ship_of_the_fens.html |archive-date=12 July 2010 }} a name inspired by the distant views of its towers, which dominate the low-lying wetlands known as "The Fens". The diocese of Ely was created in 1108 out of the see of Lincoln, and a year later the bishopric of Ely was founded. Construction of the cathedral was begun by William the Conqueror in 1083, with it finally opening in 1189 after 116 years.{{cite web|url=http://www.aboutbritain.com/elycathedral.htm|title=Ely Cathedral|work=About Britain|publisher=Excelsior Information Systems|year=2011|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117093751/http://www.aboutbritain.com/ElyCathedral.htm|archive-date=17 November 2011|url-status=live}} On 22 February 1322 it suffered the collapse of the crossing, which was rebuilt as an octagon.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson1953|p=62}} The cathedral was completed in 1351. John Wesley wrote of his 22 November 1774 visit to Ely that "the cathedral, [is] one of the most beautiful I have seen. The western tower is exceedingly grand, and the nave of an amazing height".

Ely is the nearest cathedral city to Cambridge, which lies within the same diocese. The Diocese of Ely covers {{convert|1507|sqmi|km2|0}}, 641,000 people (2011) and 335 churches. It includes the county of Cambridgeshire, except for much of Peterborough, and three parishes in the south which are in the diocese of Chelmsford. The Diocese of Ely also includes the western part of Norfolk, a few parishes in Peterborough and Essex, and one in Bedfordshire.{{cite web|title=About the Diocese|url=http://www.ely.anglican.org/about/about.html|work=Diocese of Ely|publisher=Diocese of Ely Ltd|year=2011|access-date=26 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115194447/http://www.ely.anglican.org/about/about.html|archive-date=15 November 2011|url-status=dead}}

St Mary's Church, dedicated by Bishop Eustace, is an early thirteenth-century building with a {{circa}} 1300 spire and tower with eight bells. The church was heavily restored starting in 1877.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=83}} The Roman Catholic Church of St. Etheldreda, in Egremont Street, dates from 1891.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=86}} The Methodist chapel, in Chapel Street, was built in 1818 and was restored in 1891.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=87}} The Salem Baptist chapel was erected in 1840. The Church of St Peter-in-Ely on Broad Street was built in 1890; the architect was James Piers St Aubyn and it contains a fine Ninian Comper rood screen. The Countess Free Church is part of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cofhconnexion.org.uk/|title=The Connexion {{pipe}} The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion|first=Dolia Design|last=Developer|date=27 August 2013|website=COHC|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819153649/https://www.cofhconnexion.org.uk/|archive-date=19 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.countessely.co.uk/|title=Countess Free Church Ely|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819153649/https://www.countessely.co.uk/|archive-date=19 August 2019|url-status=live}} From 1566 to 1938 the parish church for Holy Trinity was the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral.

{{See also|Fen skating}}

Ely City Football Club was established in 1885 by members of Ely St. Etheldreda Football and Cricket Club.{{cite web | url=http://www.goalrun.com/clubs?club_info&cid=214&tid=1240 | title=Ely City | publisher=Goalrun | access-date=22 November 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526114929/http://www.goalrun.com/clubs?club_info&cid=214&tid=1240 | archive-date=26 May 2012 | url-status=live }} It joined the Eastern Counties Football League in 1960, and have been members of the league's Premier Division since 2007. In the 1997–1998 season, they reached the third round of the FA Vase. Ely Tigers Rugby Club currently play in the London 3: Eastern Counties Division. A short lived greyhound racing track was opened in May 1933 at the Downham Road Stadium. The racing was independent of the National Greyhound Racing Club.{{cite book|last=Barnes|first=Julia|title=Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 416|publisher=Ringpress Books|year=1988|isbn=0-948955-15-5}}{{cite news|title=Ely|newspaper=Greyhound Racing Times|url=https://greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/2019/05/07/ely/|url-status=live|access-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508190542/https://greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/2019/05/07/ely/|archive-date=8 May 2019}}

The University of Cambridge rowing club has a boathouse on the bank of the river, and trains there for the annual Boat Race against the University of Oxford.{{cite web | url=http://www.cubc.org.uk/rowing/facilities.html | title=Facilities | publisher=CUBC | work=Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) | year=2011 | access-date=15 October 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926173304/http://www.cubc.org.uk/rowing/facilities.html | archive-date=26 September 2008 | df=dmy-all }} In 1944 and 2021, the Boat Race took place on a course on the Great Ouse on the outskirts of Ely, moved from the River Thames due to World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively.{{cite news|title=Celebrate the 1944 University Boat Race|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/out_about/2004/02/historic_boat_race.shtml|access-date=15 October 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=April 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129095703/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/out_about/2004/02/historic_boat_race.shtml|archive-date=29 November 2006|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=The Boat Race 2021 to be raced at Ely, Cambridgeshire. |url=https://www.theboatrace.org/news/the-boat-race-2021-to-be-raced-at-ely-cambridgeshire |website=The Boat Race |access-date=26 November 2020 |date=26 November 2020 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121075536/https://www.theboatrace.org/news/the-boat-race-2021-to-be-raced-at-ely-cambridgeshire |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/55086388 |title=Boat Race: 2021 races to be moved from the Thames to Ely over safety concerns |author= |date=26 November 2020 |website=BBC Sport |access-date=26 November 2020 }} The Isle of Ely Rowing Club was formed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the former event.{{cite web|title=Isle of Ely Rowing Club|url=http://www.crarowing.co.uk/affiliated-clubs/isle-of-ely-rowing-club|website=crarowing.co.uk|publisher=Cambridgeshire Rowing Association|access-date=13 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918222056/http://www.crarowing.co.uk/affiliated-clubs/isle-of-ely-rowing-club|archive-date=18 September 2016|url-status=live}}

In 1973, Ely won the international Jeux Sans Frontières competition (known in Britain as It's a Knockout!), becoming the last British town to win the title outright.

File:Ely library (12571219554).jpg

King's Ely is a coeducational boarding school which was granted a royal charter in 1541 by Henry VIII. King's Ely claims to have beginnings in the re-foundation of St Etheldreda's monastery in 970 by the Benedictine order. The wealthy sent their sons to such places to learn how to read and translate Latin texts. Edward the Confessor may{{refn|Fairweather (2005) p. 191 note 418 "This detail about the upbringing of Edward is not attested anywhere else. See F. Barlow, Edward the Confessor (second edition, Newhaven and London 1997), pp. 28ff."{{Harvnb|Fairweather|2005|p=191}}|group=lower-roman}} have been educated at Ely between {{circa}} 1005 and 1010. "The teaching of grammar continued in the cloisters [of Ely] and this tradition was the forerunner of the Cathedral Grammar School, today known as The King's School Ely".{{Harvnb|Turner|2003|pp=13–15}}

Needham's Charity School was founded in 1740 in Back Hill by Mrs Catherine Needham "for the education, clothing and apprenticement of poor children".J.H.Clements, A Brief History of Ely and neighbouring villages in the Isle, 1868 There were originally 24 free scholars aged 9 to 14 years of age. After a period in St Mary's Street, Needham's School relocated to a new building in Downham Road adjacent to Ely High School in 1969. The original building on Back Hill is now part of King's Ely.

The National School for boys was located in Silver Street. There was a National School for Girls in Market Street. Both National Schools received bursaries from the Parson's Charity. The Broad Street School was erected in 1858. In later years the Silver Street and Broad Street schools operated as St Mary's Junior School with one year group (Y5) in Broad Street.

The Ely High School for Girls opened in 1905 in St. Mary's Street, moving to the Downham Road site in 1957 on a large site which also housed St Audrey's Infant School which opened on 15 May 1953. In 1972 Ely High School closed when state secondary education in the area changed to the comprehensive model, the site becoming the City of Ely VIth Form College, part of Ely Community College which is currently Ely College.

In 1940 the Bishop's Palace was acquired by the Red Cross as a hospital and after the Second World War it became a school, known as The Palace School, for disabled children and young people.

Education in Ely, as of 2017, includes: King's Ely; Ely College; The Lantern Community Primary School; St Mary's CofE Junior School; Isle of Ely Primary School; St John's Community Primary School and Highfield Special Academy.{{Cite web|url=http://www5.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/fid/fid_results.aspx?view=List&&p=Ely&t=4|title=Cambridgeshire County Council – Family Information Directory|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522220401/https://www5.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/fid/fid_results.aspx?view=List&&p=Ely&t=4|url-status=dead}}

Anglian Water supplies the city's water and sewerage services from their Ely Public Water Supply.zone FE33 The water quality was reported as excellent in 2011. In the same report, the hardness was reported as 292 mg/L. The nearest reservoir, Grafham Water, is {{convert|21|mi|km}} west of the city.{{cite web | title = Your Area:Cambridgeshire County:Ely | work = Corporate Website | publisher = Anglian Water | url = http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/your-area/incidents/?town=2402 | access-date = 12 November 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928020918/http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/your-area/incidents/?town=2402 | archive-date = 28 September 2011 | url-status = live }}

The distribution network operator for electricity is EDF Energy. The largest straw-burning power station in the world is at nearby Sutton. This renewable energy resource power station rated at 36.85 MW from burning biomass, nearly 25 percent of the total renewable energy reported for Cambridgeshire in 2009.{{cite web | last = Van de Bulk | first = Paul | author-link = Cambridgeshire | title = Renewable Energy Development in Cambridgeshire 1999–2009 | publisher = Cambridgeshire County Council | date = 31 March 2009 | url = http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9D4357FF-739D-4B85-B9F8-560EBF10D8E0/0/RenewableenergyDevelopmentInCambridgeshire2009.pdf | access-date = 2 June 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609152716/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9D4357FF-739D-4B85-B9F8-560EBF10D8E0/0/RenewableenergyDevelopmentInCambridgeshire2009.pdf | archive-date = 9 June 2011 | url-status = dead }}

East Cambridgeshire District Council is part of the Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (RECAP) Partnership, which was granted Beacon status for waste and recycling in 2006–07.{{cite web | title = RECAP Partnership | publisher = RECAP | url = http://www.recap.co.uk/recap-partnership/ | access-date = 1 June 2010 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120909081308/http://www.recap.co.uk/recap-partnership/ | archive-date = 9 September 2012 | url-status = dead }}

The Princess of Wales Hospital in the north of Ely was built during the Second World War by the Royal Air Force, and until 1993 it served nearby RAF stations including Marham, Feltwell, Lakenheath, and Mildenhall.{{Harvnb|Hampson|Atkinson|1953|p=33}} in 1987 Diana, Princess of Wales renamed the hospital, and it is now a community hospital operated by the Lifespan Healthcare NHS trust which treats 40,000 outpatients per year.{{cite web|title=Princess of Wales Hospital|url=http://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=2279|work=NHS Choices|publisher=National Health Service|access-date=4 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517175009/https://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=2279|archive-date=17 May 2011|url-status=live}} Acute cases are handled by four other hospitals in the region, including Addenbrooke's Hospital and Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, {{convert|20|mi|km}} south of Ely.{{cite web| title = NHS Choices–your health, your choices| work = Nearest surgery to Ely| publisher = National Health Service (NHS)| url = http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/GP.aspx?pid=1533745F-3EB1-4D28-9808-531818C20223| access-date = 12 November 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120404231855/http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/GP.aspx?pid=1533745F-3EB1-4D28-9808-531818C20223| archive-date = 4 April 2012| url-status = live}}

File:DawnRiverGreatOusEly.JPG, Ely]]

The former RAF hospital based in Ely meant that many children of serving RAF parents were born in the city, including rugby union player and Rugby World Cup 2003 winning manager with England national rugby team, Clive Woodward,{{cite web|title=ESPN Scrum: Clive Woodward, England|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/9091.html|publisher=ESPN EMEA|access-date=17 May 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502005603/http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/9091.html|archive-date=2 May 2011|url-status=live}} Australian émigrée actor Guy Pearce,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/guy-pearce-hes-come-a-long-way-since-neighbours-467405.html|title=Guy Pearce: He's come a long way since 'Neighbours'|newspaper=The Independent|date=26 February 2006|access-date=17 May 2011|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325080644/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/guy-pearce-hes-come-a-long-way-since-neighbours-467405.html|archive-date=25 March 2011|url-status=dead}} and actors Sam Callis, Simon MacCorkindale and David Westhead.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8067423/Simon-MacCorkindale.html | location=London | newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | title=Simon MacCorkindale | date=15 October 2010 | access-date=4 November 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017220833/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8067423/Simon-MacCorkindale.html | archive-date=17 October 2010 | url-status=live }} Autogyro world record-holder Ken Wallis was also born in Ely. Other notable people from Ely include The Sisters of Mercy singer Andrew Eldritch,{{Harvnb|Betts|2005|p=370}} journalist Chris Hunt,{{cite web|last=The columnists|title=Who the hell is Chris Hunt?|url=http://www.elyonline.co.uk/archives/author/ch/|publisher=Karl Bedingfield|access-date=30 October 2011|year=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102111218/http://www.elyonline.co.uk/archives/author/ch/|archive-date=2 November 2011|url-status=live}} nurse Margaret Tebbit who was severely injured in the Brighton hotel bombing in 1987,{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/23/margaret-tebbit-lady-tebbit-obituary|title=Margaret Tebbit obituary|date=23 December 2020|website=The Guardian}} as well as crime writer Jim Kelly{{cite web|title=Jim Kelly|url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000056454,00.html|work=Penguin Books|publisher=Pearson|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927132829/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000056454,00.html|archive-date=27 September 2011|url-status=dead}} and award-winning poet Wendy Cope.{{cite news|title=Poet reveals her book inspiration|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Ely/Poet-reveals-her-book-inspiration-18052011.htm|access-date=30 October 2011|newspaper=Ely Weekly News|date=18 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924125912/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Ely/Poet-reveals-her-book-inspiration-18052011.htm|archive-date=24 September 2012|url-status=live}}

==In popular culture==

Children's book Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce is partly set in Ely and includes a scene in Ely Cathedral and scenes inspired by the author's father's own childhood experiences of skating along the frozen river from Cambridge to Ely in the frost of 1894–95.{{cite news|title=Philipa Pearce|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537873/Philippa-Pearce.html|date=27 December 2006|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129085614/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537873/Philippa-Pearce.html|archive-date=29 January 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Wood|first=David|title=Taking Tom from Page to Stage|url=http://www.pearcelecture.com/materials/DWood_TakingTom.pdf|work=The Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture|publisher=Pearce Memorial Charity: reg. 256277|access-date=30 October 2011|author-link=David Wood (actor)|year=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718005719/http://www.pearcelecture.com/materials/DWood_TakingTom.pdf|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Pullman|first=Philip|title=Both Perhaps and Present|url=http://www.pearcelecture.com/materials/PPullman_BothPerhapsPresent.pdf|work=The Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture|publisher=Pearce Memorial Charity: reg. 256277|access-date=30 October 2011|author-link=Philip Pullman|year=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425122404/http://www.pearcelecture.com/materials/PPullman_BothPerhapsPresent.pdf|archive-date=25 April 2012|url-status=dead}} The first series of Jim Kelly's crime novels, featuring journalist Philip Dryden, is largely set in the author's home town of Ely and in the Fens.{{cite news|title=Maggi Hambling's The Aldeburgh Scallop wins award|url=http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/entertainment/news/maggi_hambling_s_the_aldeburgh_scallop_wins_award_1_1016132|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906200216/http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/entertainment/news/maggi_hambling_s_the_aldeburgh_scallop_wins_award_1_1016132|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 September 2012|access-date=3 November 2011|newspaper=Evening Star|date=9 September 2011}} Graham Swift's 1983 novel Waterland takes place, and recounts several historical events, in and around Ely.

The Tales of the Unexpected episode "The Flypaper" was filmed in Ely.

The album cover for Pink Floyd's The Division Bell was created by Storm Thorgerson with Ely as the background between two massive sculptures that he had erected outside the city.{{Citation|title=Division Bell – Metal Heads |url=http://www.hypergallery.com/prints/division-bell---metal-heads-25.html |publisher=hypergallery.com |access-date=13 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713001055/http://www.hypergallery.com/prints/division-bell---metal-heads-25.html |archive-date=13 July 2011 }}

{{clear}}

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Ely.

{{Expand list|date=January 2020}}

• Malcolm Fletcher, saxophonist with the Ely Military Band: 18 December 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/freedom-of-the-city-of-ely-honour-1-5324726|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222092204/http://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/freedom-of-the-city-of-ely-honour-1-5324726|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 December 2017|title=Baritone saxophonist Malcolm Fletcher honoured - and surprised - as mayor steps out to hand him Freedom of the City of Ely|first=John|last=Elworthy|website=Ely Standard|date=18 December 2017}}

• RAF Hospital Ely, 1977{{cite book |last1=Mackie |first1=Mary |title=Sky wards : a history of the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service |date=2001 |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |isbn=0-7090-6976-6|page=309}}
• RAF Strike Command: 26 September 1987.{{cite web|url=https://ely.ccan.co.uk/content/catalogue_item/the-red-arrows-flying-over-ely-cathedral-to-celebrate-the-r-a-f-recieving-the-freedom-of-the-city-of-ely|title=The Red Arrows flying over Ely Cathedral to celebrate the R.A.F. receiving [sic] the Freedom of the City of Ely|website=Ely|access-date=11 September 2021}}
• 6th Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment: 1977.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/royal-anglian-regiment-to-be-honoured-in-ely-1-914699|title=Royal Anglian Regiment to be honoured in Ely|website=Ely Standard|date=8 June 2011|access-date=19 January 2020|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731010543/https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/royal-anglian-regiment-to-be-honoured-in-ely-1-914699|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/royal_anglian_regiment_to_be_honoured_in_ely_1_914699 |title=Royal Anglian Regiment to be honoured in Ely |work=Ely Standard |date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327021546/http://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/royal_anglian_regiment_to_be_honoured_in_ely_1_914699 |archive-date=27 March 2012 |url-status=live }}
• 1094 (City of Ely) Squadron Air Training Corps: 8 October 2019{{cite news |last1=Cooney |first1=Alison |title=Air Cadets Granted the Freedom of The City of Ely |url=https://www.spottedinely.com/air-cadets-granted-the-freedom-of-the-city-of-ely/ |work=Spotted in Ely |date=8 October 2019}}
• (City of Ely Detachment) 3 (Ironside) Company Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force: 24 June 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/23614457.ely-armed-forces-day-2023-cadets-presented-city-honour/ |title=Ely Armed Forces Day 2023: Cadets presented city honour |last=Hepburn |first=Louise |date=26 June 2023 |website=The Ely Standard |access-date=11 July 2023 }}

• List of places in Cambridgeshire

{{reflist|group=lower-roman|colwidth=40em}}

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{reflist| colwidth=30em}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

• {{cite book|last=Aikin|first=John|author-link=John Aikin|title=England Delineated|year=1800|edition=IV|publisher=J. Johnson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJBFAAAAIAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last=Andrews|first=Robert|title=Rough Guide to England|year=2004|publisher=Rough Guides|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXrZmU-2TsoC|isbn=978-1-84353-249-1}}
• {{cite journal|last=Babington|first=Charles Cardale|title=Ancient Cambridgeshire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRMVAAAAQAAJ|journal=Publications of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society|issue=3|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1853}}
• {{cite journal|last=Bailey|first=Keith|title=Some observations on ġē, gau, and go|year=1999|volume=31|journal= Journal of the English Place-Name Society}}
• {{cite book|last=Bauckham|first=David|title=Dugouts|publisher= New Holland Publishers | year=2006|isbn=1-84537-478-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Bentham|first=James|author-link=James Bentham|title=The History and Antiquities of the Conventual & Cathedral Church of Ely: from the Foundation of the Monastery A. D. 673 to the Year 1771|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y_5BAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=I|year=1771}}
• {{cite book|last=Betts|first=Graham|title=Collins Complete British Hit Albums|publisher=Collins|year=2005|isbn=978-0-00-720532-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/collinscompleteb0000bett}}
• {{cite book|last=Blakeman|first=Pamela|title=The Book of Ely|publisher=Barracuda Books|edition=Limited no. 589|year=1990|isbn=0-86023-466-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Camden|first=William|author-link=William Camden|year=1607|orig-year=1586|title=Britannia|chapter=Description of England and Wales: Cambridgeshire|chapter-url=http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/norfeng.html#cantab1|edition=VII|language=la, en|translator=Philemon Holland|url=http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/|access-date=21 November 2011}}
• {{cite book|last=Carpenter|first=Austin C.|title=Cannon: The Conservation, Reconstruction and Presentation of Historic Artillery|year=1993|publisher=Halsgrove|location=Tiverton|isbn=1-874448-02-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Carter|first=Edmund|year=1753|title=The History of the County of Cambridge, etc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqI9AAAAcAAJ|publisher=R. Mathews|location=Cambridge|access-date=21 November 2011}}
• {{cite book|last=Cary|first=John|title=Cary's New Itinerary; or, An accurate delineation of the great roads ... throughout England and Wales; with many of the principal roads in Scotland, etc.|year=1817|publisher=His Majesty's Postmaster General|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZ1bAAAAQAAJ}}
• {{cite journal| last1=Cessford| first1=Craig| last2=Alexander| first2=Mary| last3=Dickens| first3=Alison| year=2006| title=Between Broad Street and the Great Ouse: waterfront archaeology in Ely| journal=East Anglian Archaeology| volume=Report No. 114| publisher=Cambridge Archaeology Unit}}
• {{cite journal|last=Cobbett|first=William|title=Rural Rides|journal=Nature|volume=130|issue=3275|pages=187–188|year=1912|orig-year=1853|publisher=Dent|location=London|url=https://archive.org/stream/ruralrides02cobb#page/228/mode/2up|author-link=William Cobbett|access-date=11 November 2011|bibcode=1932Natur.130..187S|doi=10.1038/130187a0|s2cid=8835768}}
• {{cite book|last=Crabb|first=George|author-link=George Crabb (writer)|title=Universal Historical Dictionary; or, Explanation of the names of persons and places in the departments of biblical, political and eccles. history, mythology, heraldry, biography, bibliography, geography, and numismatics|volume=1|year=1833|publisher=Baldwin and Cradock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZBAAAAcAAJ|access-date=12 January 2012}}
• {{cite book|last=Dale|first=Rodney|year=2000|title=Haddenham & Aldreth Past and Present|publisher=Fern House|isbn=1-902702-06-9}}
• {{cite book|last1=Dalton|first1=Nick|first2=Rebecca |last2=Ford |first3=Donald |last3=Strachan |first4=Stephen |last4=Keeling |first5=Deborah |last5=Stone |first6=Rhonda |last6=Carrier |first7=Louise |last7=McGrath| title=Frommer's England & the Best of Wales 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-119-97257-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Darby|first=H. C.|title=The Medieval Fenland|year=1974|orig-year=1940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_E0jaASeYR4C|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|isbn=978-1-107-61498-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Defoe|first=Daniel|title=A Tour Through the Eastern Counties of England, 1722|year=1891|orig-year=1722|publisher=Cassell|location=London, Paris, Melbourne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31xDAAAAYAAJ|author-link=Daniel Defoe|access-date=12 November 2011}}
• {{cite book|last=Dorman|first=B. E.|title=The Story of Ely|year=1986|edition=7|orig-year=1945|publisher=Black Horse|location=Norwich}}
• {{cite book|last=Ekwall|first=Eilert|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English place-names|edition=4th|year=1960|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford}}
• {{cite book|last=Earle|first=John|title=Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel: With supplementary extracts from the others|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FT0LAAAAYAAJ|year=1865|publisher=Clarendon Press}}
• {{cite book | last = Fairweather | first = Janet | title = Liber Eliensis: A history of the Isle of Ely from the seventh century to the twelfth | work = Liber Eliensis | publisher = The Boydell Press | year = 2005 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fh5OozghywIC | isbn = 1-84383-015-9 }}
• {{cite book| last = Foxe| first = John| author-link = John Foxe| title = The Acts and Monuments of the Church; containing the history and sufferings of the martyrs. A new ed., revised, corrected, and condensed by M. H. Seymour| editor-last = Seymour| editor-first = Michael Hobart| publisher = Scott, Webster and Geary| location = London| year = 1838| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OnAEAAAAQAAJ}}
• {{cite book| last=Franklin|first=William|title=The Hospital of St John and St Mary Magdalene in Ely and its successor, St John's Farm|publisher=Ely History Publications|year=2018}}
• {{cite book| last1=Gallois| first1=R. W.| first2=Beris M. |last2=Cox |first3=H. C. |last3=Ivimey-Cook |first4=A. A |last4=Morter |first5=R. S. |last5=Seale| year=1988| title=Geology of the Country around Ely: Memoir for 1:50,000 Geological Sheet 173 (England and Wales)| publisher=British Geological Survey| location=London:HMSO| isbn=0-11-884395-8}}
• {{cite book|last=Giles|first=J. A.|author-link=John Allen Giles|title=The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, in the original Latin, collated with the Manuscripts, and various printed editions, and accompanied by a new English translation of the Historical Works, and a Life of the Author|year=1843|volume=3 part 2|publisher=Whittaker|location=London|chapter-url=http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1914&Itemid=99999999|access-date=10 January 2012|chapter=chapter XIX|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831152742/https://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1914&Itemid=99999999|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book|last1=Gray|first1=Ronald D.|last2=Stubbings|first2=Derek|title=Cambridge Street-Names: Their Origins and Associations|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1_EN9lkfXQC|isbn=978-0-521-78956-1}}
• {{cite book | last1 = Greig | first1 = A. | last2 = Martin | first2 = J. | title = Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's State of the Environment Report | publisher = Cambridgeshire County Council | year = 1998 | url = http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2F0D5E30-F308-406B-9455-86B9EDDD50EC/0/soe98physical.pdf | access-date = 3 November 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609152805/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2F0D5E30-F308-406B-9455-86B9EDDD50EC/0/soe98physical.pdf | archive-date = 9 June 2011 | df = dmy-all }}
• {{cite book|last1=Hampson|first1=Ethel M.|last2=Atkinson|first2=T. D.|chapter=Chapter 2: City of Ely|editor-last=Pugh|editor-first=Ralph B|series=The Victoria History of the Counties of England|title=A History of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely|publisher=for The University of London Institute of Historical Research by the Oxford University Press|location=London|year=1953|pages=27–89|chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21883|volume=IV}}
• {{cite book| editor-last = Holton-Krayenbuhl| editor-first = Anne| title = The Topography of Medieval Ely|publisher =Cambridgeshire Records Society|location=Cambridge|year = 2011|volume=20|isbn=978-0-904323-22-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Johnson|first=C.|title=An Account of the Ely and Littleport Riots in 1816|year=1893|publisher=Harris & Sons|location=Littleport|pages=12–24, 65–66}}
• {{cite book|last=Jones|first=John|title=A Human Geography of Cambridgeshire|year=1924|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson|location=London}}
• {{cite book| last1 = Marr| first1 = J. E.|last2=Thomas|first2=H. D.| chapter = Chapter 1: Geology| editor-last = Salzman| editor-first = L. F.|editor-link = Louis Francis Salzman| series= The Victoria History of the Counties of England |title=A History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely|publisher =Dawsons of Pall Mall for The University of London Institute of Historical Research| location = London| orig-year = 1938| year = 1967|pages = 1–33| volume = I}}
• {{cite book|last=Miller|first=Edward|title=The Abbey and Bishopric of Ely|year=1969|orig-year=1951|isbn=0-521-07778-8|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
• {{cite book|last=Miller|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Miller (historian)|chapter=Chapter 1: The Liberty of Ely|editor-last=Pugh|editor-first=Ralph B.|series=The Victoria History of the Counties of England|title=A History of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely|publisher=Oxford University Press for The University of London Institute of Historical Research|location=London|year=1953|pages=1–27|chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21879|volume=IV}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Samuel H.|last2=Skertchly|first2=Sydney B. J.|title=The Fenland Past and Present: Chapter 1: Geographical sketch of the Fenland|journal=Nature|volume=18|issue=463|publisher=Longmans & Green|location=London|year=1878|pages=1–13|author-link=Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly|bibcode=1878Natur..18..514J|doi=10.1038/018514a0|s2cid=4140649|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1429235}}
• {{cite book| last = Mills | first = A. D. | title = A Dictionary of British Place-Names | publisher = OUP|location=Oxford|year = 2003}}
• {{cite book| last = Oppitz | first = Leslie | title = East Anglia Railways Remembered | publisher = Countryside Books | year = 1989 | isbn = 1-85306-040-2}}
• {{cite book| last = Pevsner | first = Nikolaus | author-link = Nikolaus Pevsner | title = The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire | publisher = Penguin Books |orig-year=1954|year = 1977| edition = 2nd | isbn = 0-14-071010-8}}
• {{cite journal|last=Reaney|first=P. H.|title=The place-names of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely|journal=Nature|year=1943|pages=99–105|volume=XIX|issue=3849|publisher=English Place-name Society|location=Cambridge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtE8AAAAIAAJ|access-date=10 January 2012|bibcode=1943Natur.152..145B|doi=10.1038/152145a0|s2cid=38497274|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book|last=Skeat|first=W. W.|author-link=Walter W. Skeat|title=The Place-Names of Cambridgeshire|url=https://archive.org/details/placenamescambr00skeagoog|year=1901|publisher=Cambridge Antiquarian Society|location=Cambridge}}
• {{cite book| last = Skertchly| first = S. B. J.| title = Geology of the Fenland| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DXYKAAAAMAAJ| publisher = HM Stationery Office| location = London| year = 1877| author-link = Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly}}
• {{cite book| last = Stewart| first = D. J.| title = On the Architectural History of Ely Cathedral| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=evoDAAAAYAAJ| publisher = John van Voorst| location = London| year = 1868}}
• {{cite book| last = Summers| first = Dorothy| title = The Great Level: A History of Drainage and Land Reclamation in the Fens|publisher =David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|year = 1976|isbn=0-7153-7041-3}}
• {{cite book| last = Turner| first = Lynne| title = In the Shadow of the Cathedral: A History of the King's School, Ely|publisher =Book Production Consultants|location=Cambridge|year = 2003|isbn=0-9545799-0-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Watts|first=V.|title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names|year=2004|publisher=CUP|location=Cambridge}}

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• {{Citation|last=Bentham|first=James|author-link=James Bentham|title=The History and Antiquities of the Conventual & Cathedral Church of Ely: from the Foundation of the Monastery A. D. 673 to the Year 1771. Supplement: Comprising enlarged accounts of the monastery, Lady Chapel, Prior Crawden's Chapel, the places and other buildings connected with the ... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djI_AAAAcAAJ|publisher= Stevenson |volume=III| year=1817 |ref=none}}

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{{Commons category}}

• {{Wikivoyage-inline|Ely (England)|Ely}}
• 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 in Cambridge.
• {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Ely |volume = 9 |page=301 |short=1}}

{{East Cambridgeshire}}

{{Cambridgeshire}}

{{The Fens}}

{{UK cities}}

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Category:673 establishments

Category:Populated places on the River Great Ouse

Category:Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire

Category:Towns in Cambridgeshire

Category:Cities in the East of England

Category:7th-century establishments in England

Category:East Cambridgeshire District