Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral's story begins with St Etheldreda, an Anglo-Saxon princess who chose this fenland island for her monastery in 673 CE. Vikings destroyed her foundation, but it rose again as a Benedictine abbey, then became one of England's great Norman cathedrals. Through Reformation, civil war, and the modern era, worship has continued virtually unbroken, making this one of the longest-continuous sacred sites in English Christianity.

Etheldreda was born a princess of East Anglia around 636 CE, daughter of King Anna. Twice married for political alliance, she remained dedicated to virginity and religious life, eventually persuading her second husband to let her take the veil. In 673 she came to Ely, an island in the fens that had been part of her dowry, and established a double monastery for monks and nuns.

She served as abbess until her death in 679, reportedly from a throat tumor she interpreted as divine punishment for youthful vanity in wearing necklaces. When her body was exhumed sixteen years later for translation to a finer tomb, it was found incorrupt, the tumor scar healed. This incorruption became central to her cult. Pilgrims would later travel from across Europe seeking healing, particularly for throat and neck ailments.

Viking raiders destroyed Etheldreda's monastery around 870 CE, killing the community. For a century the site lay desolate. Then in 970, Bishop Ethelwold of Winchester refounded it as a Benedictine abbey, and continuous worship resumed. The Norman conquest brought Abbot Simeon, kinsman of William the Conqueror, who in 1083 began the great stone church that still stands. In 1109 Ely became a cathedral, seat of a new diocese, and the monastery simultaneously served as cathedral chapter.