Ely 265347 222869856 2008-07-01T14:44:47Z Dancarney 484635 /* People from Ely */ disambig {{refimprove|date=June 2008}} {{dablink|For other places with the same name, see [[Ely (disambiguation)]].}} {{infobox UK place| |country = England |official_name= Ely |latitude= 52.40 |longitude= 0.26 |population = 15,102 |shire_district= [[East Cambridgeshire]] | shire_county = [[Cambridgeshire]] |region= East of England |constituency_westminster= |post_town= ELY |postcode_district = CB6, CB7 |postcode_area= CB |dial_code= 01353 |os_grid_reference= TL535799 |static_image=[[Image:Ely Cathedral 3.jpg|237px]] |static_image_caption=<small>[[Ely Cathedral]] is often considered one of the [[Seven Wonders of the World#Seven Wonders lists about the Middle Ages|Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages]]</small> }} '''Ely''' ({{Audio|En-uk-Ely.ogg|pronunciation}}; [[Help:Pronunciation|IPA]] {{IPA|/'iːli/}}, rhyming with "freely") is a [[cathedral]] [[City status in the United Kingdom|city]] in the [[East Cambridgeshire]] district of [[Cambridgeshire]] in the [[east of England]] and 14 miles (23 km) North-northeast of [[Cambridge]]. Ely has been informally accounted a city by virtue of being the seat of a diocese, its status was confirmed by [[Royal Charter]] in 1974; at that time the [[parish council]] of the single [[civil parish]] that makes up Ely was formed during a reorganisation of [[Local government in the United Kingdom|local government]]. With a population of 15,102 in 2001, Ely is the [[smallest cities in the United Kingdom|third smallest city]] in England (after [[Wells]] ([[Somerset]]) and the [[City of London]]) and the sixth smallest in the United Kingdom (with [[St David's]], [[Bangor, Wales|Bangor]], and [[Armagh]] also smaller). ==The City== The city is very attractive, retaining many historic buildings with its winding shopping throughfares. There is a market on Thursday and Saturday each week. Ely is on the [[River Great Ouse]] and was a significant port until the 18th century when the [[Fens]] were drained and Ely was not an "island" anymore. The river is a popular boating area with a large marina. The [[University of Cambridge]] rowing team has a boathouse on the bank of the river and train here for the annual [[The Boat Race|Boat Race]] against [[Oxford University]]. The 1944 Boat Race was raced on the River Great Ouse near Ely, the only time it has not been held on the River Thames. The race was won by Oxford despite Cambridge being ahead early in the contest. ==History== It is said that Ely derives its name from 'eel' and '-y' or '-ey' meaning island, i.e. an island where there were a lot of eels. This may be true due to the position of Ely, an island in low lying fens, which were historically very marshy and rich in [[eel]]s. It has even been claimed that, during the 11th century, monks of the town would use eels as currency to pay their taxes.<ref>[http://www.ely-standard.co.uk/content/ely/news/story.aspx?brand=ELYOnline&category=News&tBrand=cambs24&tCategory=NewsELY&itemid=WEED13+Jul+2007+15%3A16%3A51%3A840/ "Eels could be slipping away from city’s river"], ''[[Ely Standard]]'' Web Editorial, [[July 13]], [[2007]]. Accessed [[December 12]], [[2007]].</ref> The city's origins lay in the foundation of an abbey in 673AD, a mile (1.6 km) to the north of the village of '''Cratendune''' on the [[Isle of Ely]], under the protection of [[Æthelthryth|St Ethelreda]], daughter of [[Anna of East Anglia|King Anna]]. The abbey was destroyed in 870 by [[Viking|Danish]] invaders and not rebuilt for over a hundred years. The site was one of the last holdouts in England to the rule of [[William I of England|William I]]: [[Hereward the Wake]] did not surrender until 1071. ==Ely Cathedral== {{main|Ely Cathedral}} {{See|Diocese of Ely}} The magnificent cathedral of Ely, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is known as the "Ship of the Fens" for the distant views of its towers that dominate the low-lying wetlands called [[The Fens]]. The diocese of Ely was created in 1108, out of the [[see of Lincoln]]. The cathedral was started by William I in 1083 and completed in 1351, despite the collapse of the main tower in 1322, which was rebuilt as an octagonal tower. The bishopric of Ely was founded in 1109. The city took part in the [[Peasants' Revolt]] of 1381. [[Oliver Cromwell]] lived in Ely for several years after inheriting the position of local tax collector in 1636. His former home dates to the 16th century and is now used by the Tourist Information Office as well as being a museum with rooms displayed as they would have been in Cromwell's time. Historical documents relating to Ely, including Church of England parish registers, court records, maps and photographs, are held by [[Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies]] at the County Record Office Cambridge. Ely is the nearest cathedral city to [[Cambridge]]. Cambridge does not have its own cathedral and is within the Diocese of Ely. The diocese covers 1507 square miles/3900 square [[kilometres]] and holds 610,000 people (1995) and 341 churches; it includes the county of [[Cambridgeshire]] (except for three parishes in the south which are in the diocese of [[Chelmsford]]) the western part of [[Norfolk]], a few parishes in [[Peterborough]] and [[Essex]] and one in [[Bedfordshire]]. ==Transport== [[Ely railway station]], situated on the [[Fen Line]], is a major train hub with direct trains to [[Cambridge]] and [[London]], as well as much of the rest of [[East Anglia]], [[Midlands#English_Midlands|The Midlands]] and [[North West England|The North-West]]. ==Sport== [[Ely City F.C.]] is a football club that was established in 1885 and joined the [[Eastern Counties Football League]] in 1960. In the 1997-98 season, they reached the 3rd round of the [[FA Vase]]. For the 2007-08 season, they are members of the [[Eastern Counties Football League]] Division One. They play at the Unwin Sports Ground, in the shadow of the Cathedral, which was featured in David Bauckham's book ''Dugouts''. <ref>{{cite book | author=Bauckham, David | title=Dugouts| publisher=New Holland | year=2006| id=ISBN 1-8453-7478-9}}</ref> ==Twin cities and towns== * {{flagicon|Denmark}} [[Ribe]], [[Esbjerg municipality|Municipality of Esbjerg]], [[Denmark]] ==People from Ely== [[Sir Clive Woodward]], [[rugby union]] player and [[Rugby World Cup 2003]] winning manager with [[England national rugby union team]] was born in Ely, as was [[Autogiro]] world record holder [[Ken Wallis]]. Other notable people from Ely include [[The Sisters of Mercy]] singer [[Andrew Eldritch]], and [[Australia]]n emigrée actor [[Guy Pearce]]. Folk singer [[Boo Hewerdine]] and crime writer [[Jim Kelly (author)|Jim Kelly]] both currently live in Ely ==See also== * [[List of places in Cambridgeshire]] * [[Ely railway station]] * [[City of Ely Community College]] * [[Ely Castle]] * [[Oliver Cromwell]] * [[Ely Community College]] *[[The King's School, Ely]] ==Gallery== <br clear="all"> <gallery> Image:Ely_PG.jpg|Ely Cathedral and Palace Green Image:ElyWinter.jpg|Ely on a winter morning Image:Ely_thegallery.jpg|The Cathedral viewed from The Gallery Image:ElyMP.jpg|The Market Place, Ely Image:ElyFM.jpg|Lots of produce at the French market Image:ElyFM2.jpg|A stall on the French market Image:Eeldayparade.jpg| Eel day parade down Fore Hill Image:ElyOCH.jpg|Oliver Cromwell House, tourist information and museum. Image:Elyquay1.jpg|The river quayside (Quai D'Orsay) Image:Elyquay2.jpg|The River Great Ouse, Ely Image:Elyquay4.jpg|The quayside and river Great Ouse Image:Elyfrog.jpg|Canal boats moored on the river Image:ViewStMaryCY.jpg|View from St Mary's churchyard Image:Meadows_ely.jpg|Ely Cathedral taken from the park Image:Sunglowgallery.jpg|The Gallery and 14th century Porta at dusk Image:Cutter inn ely.jpg|Looking back towards the riverside Cutter Inn </gallery> == References == {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.elyonline.co.uk Ely Online] * [http://cityofely.eastcambs.gov.uk/html/aboutely.html About Ely] *[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Great_Britain/England/_Topics/churches/_Texts/KINCAT*/Ely/2.html Richard John King, ''Handbook to the Cathedrals of England'' (Oxford, 1862) On-line text concerning the See of Ely] * [http://www.rootsweb.com/~engcam/timeline1.htm Cambridgeshire - Historical Time Line 10,000 BC - AD 1999] * [http://www.cathedral.ely.anglican.org/ Ely Cathedral] * [http://www.camcity.co.uk/directory/CAMBRIDGESHIRE/ELY/ Ely Listings] - a collection of links to various Ely Web sites of interest * [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/96E7CC1E-ADC7-4B3E-BEC9-1CA9F50B13C2/0/Ely.pdf 2001 Census] * [http://www.earthely.co.uk EARTH, Ely, Cambs] * [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.walker10 Fenland Ancestors] {{UK cities}} [[Category:673 establishments]] [[Category:Cities in England]] [[Category:Ely| ]] [[Category:Towns on the River Great Ouse]] [[Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English)]] <!-- The below are interlanguage links. --> [[cs:Ely]] [[de:Ely]] [[es:Ely]] [[fr:Ely]] [[it:Ely]] [[nl:Ely]] [[no:Ely]] [[pl:Ely (Wielka Brytania)]] [[ro:Ely]] [[simple:Ely, Cambridgeshire]] [[fi:Ely]] [[sv:Ely]] [[vo:Ely (Cambridgeshire)]] [[zh:伊利 (英國)]]