The West Tower of Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, restored by George Gilbert Scott, 1847 onwards

Ely Cathedral, the West Tower

First completed in 1189. Extensively restored by George Gilbert Scott

1847-78

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Other Views

Ely Cathedral from the south-east

Octagon and Lantern, Lady Chapel at left

St Catherine's Chapel, rebuilt by Scott

Interior of the Octagon, showing Scott's screen (contemporary engraving)

The nave, looking east

The nave ceiling, painted 1858-65

Victorian scrollwork on the West Door

An example of early brick diapering on the Bishop's Palace

Ely from under the Railway Bridge, by Jospeh Pennell

Photograph, caption, and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

The religious community at Ely was founded in the seventh century by St Etheldreda, the Queen of Northumbria; the present building was begun in the eleventh century. By the early thirteenth, it was already attracting many pilgrims. But in 1322 the central tower collapsed, doing a great deal of damage. Despite tremendous feats of medieval craftsmanship, the rebuilding in turn caused problems, and by Victorian times much new work needed to be done. This was undertaken by George Gilbert Scott, as the very first of his many important cathedral restorations. Apart from "elaborate repairs" to the West Tower (Carey 16), he renewed "entirely" the "very pretty timber lantern" of the distinctive 14c. Octagon above the transept, adding "the spirelets of the stone pinnacles, the whole pinnacles in the central sides of the Octagon, the crestings of stone and timber, and the four-light timber windows" (Pevsner 347n). He also rebuilt the ruined Chapel of St Catherine near the west entrance, strengthened the roof, put in a new nave ceiling and floor, changed the position of the choir stalls, designed the font, rood screen, reredos, organ stairs, pulpit and so on. As Michael W. Brooks comments: "Someday a long and scholarly book will appear showing how much posterity owes Scott" (269).

There is a poignant memorial to another architect in Ely Cathedral. This is to George Basevi, who designed the Fitzwilliam Museum, and who fell to his death while inspecting the West Tower in 1845. He was buried in the cathedral itself and is shown in the colourful floor-brass over his tomb in the north choir aisle bearing his plans for the Fitzwilliam, and what looks like a rule and a set of dividers, having been taken from his profession truly in medias res.

The cannon mounted on the approach to the cathedral, seen just in the foreground here, was captured from the Russians during the Crimean War, and presented to the town by the Queen in 1860 to mark the creation of the Ely Rifle Volunteers. Around the plaque explaining this are the words: "Give Peace in Our Time O Lord."

Note

An image of the brass over Basevi's grave is available here on Flickr.

Sources

Brooks, Michael W. John Ruskin and Victorian Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989.

Carey, M. S. Ely Cathedral. Crawley: Pitkin, 1973.

Pevsner, Nikolaus. The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2nd ed. 1970.

Last modified 24 July 2008