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Ely Cathedral

Some Information about Ely Cathedral

Brief History (from an Ely Cathedral information leaflet)
Design of the Cathedral (E. Shrimpton)
The West Tower Labyrinth (Ben Aldhouse)
Monastic Buildings (information leaflet)
Photographs of the cathedral (Ben Aldhouse)

Page Index - Brief History

In 673 St Etheldreda, Queen of Northumbria, founded a monastery in the centre of the Fens, on the isle of Ely where she was Abbess until her death in 679.

Some 400 years later, in 1081, work on the present building was begun, under the guidance of Abbott Simeon. It was completed in 1118 and the Cathedral now stands as a remarkable example of Romanesque architecture.

Undoubtedly, the most outstanding feature of the Cathedral is the Octagon, built to replace the Norman tower which collapsed in 1322. The scale, engineering skill and sheer beauty are breathtaking and we can only marvel at the vision of Alan of Walsingham in designing such a piece of architecture.

The 14th Century Lady Chapel with its intricate stone carvings, is the largest in England. And there is the Prior's Door, the painted Nave ceiling, Bishop West's Chantry Chapel and St Ovin's Cross - the only piece of stonework of Saxon origin in the Cathedral.

In the 1990's, the Cathedral is the centre of a large Diocese. Worship and music form part of the daily life as they have done for centuries.

Page Index - Design of the Cathedral

The late 11th century design of Ely Cathedral was based on the proportional relationships of root 2. The master mason, almost certainly French, laid out the ground plan in six equal squares, three the length of the nave, one in each transept and one in the choir. The last three interlock at their corners in the middle of the crossing. The square is called the main vessel. All the other measurements in the building from the Romanesque period, both horizontal and vertical, are based on the root 2 proportional relationships of the main vessel. So, the main vessel is twice the width of the aisle, which is root 2 times the distance between the aisle responds, which is root 2 the depth of the piers which is root 2 the width of the arcade wall. In spite of alterations over the centuries the ground plan still has the original 11th century measurements.

Here is a sketch showing the layout of the main vessels (.gif 20,816 bytes). This description and sketch were kindly provided by E. Shrimpton who is a guide at the cathedral. Liz Shrimpton also writes poems and songs about the Fens - of which ECOLN is pleased to have the words to 'Song of the Black Fen' currently on line.

Page Index - The Labyrinth (and sundial)

This image is a drawing of the 19th century labyrinth at the base of the West Tower. The significance of the labyrinth is simply that the path to the center unravelled is the same height as the tower, i.e. 250 feet.

See Also P.J. Mudge's Unicursal Maze Web site.

Another less-well-known feature of the Cathedral is the sundial - a photograph and description of which can be found at the British SunDial Web Site.

Page Index - The Monastic Buildings

The Cathedral is set within the walls of the Benedictine Monastery, and a walk round the College will reveal that Ely has the largest collection of medieval domestic architecture in England.

The Porta was the original entrance to the Monastery and Prior Crauden's Chapel is situated nearby. Powchers Hall, the Old Barn, The Almonry and all the other medieval buildings still stand today to remind us of a community who lived and worshipped together, and of the skill and craftmanship of those who built them over 600 years ago.

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