Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the SeeSweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the See
Sweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)
Ely Cathedral
The arrangements for worship present an appearance very unlike those of
sixty years ago. A writer in 1876, writing of his early recollections,
says: "When I first knew Ely the state of the lady-chapel--then, as now,
used as a parish church--was so miserable from decay, violence, and
neglect, that it was simply painful to enter it." ... Now,
"well-designed benches have replaced the mean deal square pews, the
whitewash and yellow-wash which thickly clogged the carving has been
removed, the windows have been repaired and made water-tight, and the
altar and its adjuncts made to assume an air of reverent dignity."
We do not remember to have anywhere seen an explanation of the fact that
this chapel is now used as the parish church of Holy Trinity parish;
whereas the old church, the destruction of which occasioned the
appropriation of the lady-chapel to parochial use, was dedicated to S.
Cross.
#Monuments And Stained Glass#--It is convenient to treat the
monuments as a separate subject, so as not to break the continuity of
the architectural description. We will commence at the west, proceeding
along the north aisle, and so round the cathedral, pointing out those
that have anything of special interest.
Against the blocked doorway which gave access to the church of S. Cross
is placed an altar-tomb to the late Bishop Woodford (see below, p. 129).
The figure of the bishop is vested in cope and mitre, and has a pastoral
staff. The Crucifixion is on the wall at the back. There are several
shields of arms relating to the bishop's career or to the cathedral
history: among these are those of the Merchant Taylors' Company, at
whose school he was educated; Pembroke College, Cambridge, of which he
was a member; and of other colleges at Cambridge founded by bishops of
Ely. Three tablets in this north aisle, near the transept, record
donations towards the re-paving of the nave and aisles in 1676, 1869,
and 1873.
There is no monumental memorial in the nave. But the large slab of
marble in the centre, just in front of the position of the old
rood-loft, which has been already referred to as traditionally marking
the grave of Alan de Walsingham, should be noticed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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