File:The last rays of late November sunshine on Ely Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1601505.jpg

English: The last rays of late November sunshine on Ely Cathedral. This long-distance view was taken from Newmarket Bridge > 1601381 - 1601503, looking north-west towards the south facade of the cathedral which here is illuminated by the low late November afternoon sunshine. The vast size of the building is best appreciated from a distance.

Queen Etheldreda (d.679 from the plague) - the daughter of Anna, king of East Anglia - restored an old church at Ely and built her monastery on the site of what is now Ely Cathedral. According to tradition, her body was found to be incorrupt and the plague tumor on her neck was found to be healed seventeen years after her death. The linen cloths in which her body was wrapped are said to have been as fresh as the day she had been buried. Her body was placed in a stone sarcophagus of Roman origin, found at Grantchester, and reburied. For centuries Etheldreda's shrine was the focus for vast numbers of medieval pilgrims until its destruction in 1541. A slate in the Cathedral still marks the spot where it stood.

After its restoration in 970 Ely became the richest abbey in England except for Glastonbury and it flourished for 200 years until its destruction by Danish invaders after which it was refounded as a Benedictine community. Work on the Cathedral as we see it now began in the 11th century and the monastic church became a cathedral in 1109, with the Diocese of Ely being carved out of the Diocese of Lincoln. A first major restoration took place in the 18th century, a second restoration was undertaken in 1839 and following years. A third restoration project was completed in 2000.