E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, David Cortesi, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the msny original illustrations.
See 21003-h.htm or 21003-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/0/0/21003/21003-h/21003-h.htm)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/0/0/21003/21003-h.zip)
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ELY
A History and Description
of the Building with a Short
Account of the Former
Monastery and of the See
by
THE REV. W. D. SWEETING, M.A.
Vicar of Holy Trinity, Rotherhithe
and
Author of "Peterborough"
With XLVII Illustrations
[Illustration: ELY CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
[Illustration: The Arms of the See.]
London George Bell & Sons 1910
First Published June 1901.
Reprinted 1902, 1910.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
It is hardly necessary to give a complete list of all the authorities
consulted in the preparation of this book. As specially valuable for Ely
may be named the "Liber Eliensis" and the "Inquisitio Eliensis"; the
histories of Bentham, Hewett, and Stewart; the "Memorials of Ely," and
the Handbook to the Cathedral edited and revised by the late Dean;
Professor Freeman's Introduction to Farren's "Cathedral Cities of Ely
and Norwich"; and the various reports of Sir G. G. Scott. But numerous
other sources of information have been examined, and have supplied facts
or theories; and in nearly every instance, particularly where the very
words are quoted, the authority is given in the text or in the notes.
My best thanks are due to the Dean of Ely for his ready courtesy in
allowing free access to every part of the cathedral and for his solution
of various difficulties which had presented themselves in comparing
different accounts of the fabric. I have also to thank the Rev. T.
Perkins and the Photochrom Company for the use of the photographs from
which the illustrations have been prepared. For many curious details,
and for the loan of some books that are out of print and difficult to
obtain, I acknowledge my obligation to Mr. C. Johnson, of Ely.
W. D. SWEETING.
LIST OF CONTENTS.
I. THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING 3
II. THE CATHEDRAL: EXTERIOR 41
The West Front 43
The Galilee Porch 44
The West Tower 47
The North Side of the Nave 49
The Octagon 50
The North Transept 51
The Lady-Chapel 52
The East End 55
The Aisles 56
The Triforium Windows 57
The South Transept 60
The Monks' Door 60
The Prior's Door 60
The Cloister 61
III. THE INTERIOR 63
The Western Transept and S. Catharine's Chapel 64
The Nave 66
The Ceiling 67
The Nave Aisles 69
The Octagon 71
The Transepts 74
The Choir and Presbytery 76
The Lady-Chapel 84
Monuments and Stained Glass 87
The Chapel of Bishop Alcock 90
The Chapel of Bishop West 93
IV. HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY 99
V. HISTORY OF THE SEE 113
VI. THE PRECINCTS 131
The Infirmary 131
Prior Crauden's Chapel 132
Ely Porta 133
INDEX 135
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Ely Cathedral from the South _Frontispiece._
The Arms of the See _Title._
The North Side of the Cathedral 2
The Cathedral from the South 3
The Interior of the Galilee before Restoration 18
The Shrine of S. Etheldreda (from Bentham) 20
The Octagon about 1825 23
Ely Cathedral at the End of the Eighteenth Century 33
The Cathedral from the West 40
Entrance To The Cathedral From The Galilee 41
Doorway of the Galilee 45
The West Tower from the South 48
The Choir and Lady-Chapel from the North-East 53
Elevation of Original Bays of Bishop Northwold's Presbytery 55
The Lantern and South Transept 57
The Prior's Doorway 59
The Nave, looking West 62
S. Catharine's Chapel 63
The Nave, looking East 65
Panels in the Nave Ceiling 67
The North Aisle of the Nave 69
The South Aisle of the Nave 70
The South Transept 74
The North Transept 75
The Choir Screen 76
Elevation of the Bays of the Presbytery 77
The Choir, looking West 79
The Triforium of the Choir and Presbytery 80
The Choir Stalls: North Side 81
The Reredos 84
The Lady-Chapel 85
Doorway of the Lady-Chapel 86
The North Choir Aisle, looking West 89
The Presbytery and the supposed Shrine of S. Etheldreda 91
Bishop Alcock's Chapel 94
Bishop West's Chapel 95
The Choir, looking East 98
The Chapter Seal (from Bentham) 99
Bishop Alcock's Chantry from the Retro-Choir 112
The North Choir Aisle, looking East 122
Bishop West's Chapel 123
The Brass of Bishop Goodrich 124
Bishop Woodford's Tomb 129
Prior Crauden's Chapel 131
Plan of the Infirmary (from Bentham) 132
Ely Porta, The Great Gate Of The Monastery, 1817 133
Ground Plan Of Ely Cathedral _At end._
[Illustration: THE NORTH SIDE OF THE CATHEDRAL.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
ELY CATHEDRAL.
CHAPTER I.
THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING.
No mention has been found of Ely as a town before the time of the virgin
queen S. Etheldreda. The district known as the Isle of Ely--which now
includes the whole of the northern part of Cambridgeshire above the
River Ouse, together with a few parishes east of that river that are in
the county--is spoken of at the time of the marriage of the princess as
if it were a district well known and perhaps of some importance, as it
was assigned to her as a dowry. Some writers have held that the
expression the Isle of Ely applied only to the rising ground on which
the city now stands and to its immediate neighbourhood. If this were
ever the case, the name was soon used for a larger district. In the
"Liber Eliensis" the limits of the isle are given as seven miles in
length by four in breadth, while the extent of the two hundreds
belonging to Ely reaches from Tydd to Upware and from Bishop's Delf to
Peterborough. We have many examples of large inland districts where a
series of rivers has happened to isolate them being known as isles. The
Isles of Athelney, Axholme, Purbeck, Thanet, are familiar instances.
Perhaps the town is more likely to take its name from the district than
the district from the town. It will be seen that in none of the examples
just given is the name derived from a town. We have the authority of
Bede for the statement that Ely (_Elge_) was a region containing about
six hundred families, like an island (_in similitudinem insulæ_), and
surrounded by marshes or waters.
When told that Ely means the "Island of Eels," many persons suppose this
to be a fanciful etymology, and smile at the idea; but the best
authorities are agreed that this is the true derivation of the name.[1]
A suggestion that the willow-trees, so abundant in the region, gave the
name (Celtic, _Helyg_) has met with some support. A third suggestion,
that the word comes from the Greek for a "marsh," hardly deserves
mention. The Saxon word for "eel" was apparently pronounced exactly as
the modern word. Bede gives this etymology: "A copia anguillarum, quæ in
iisdem paludibus capiuntur, nomen accepit." William of Malmesbury, in
his "Gesta Pontificum," 1125, takes the same view. The "Liber Eliensis,"
of about the same date, also adopts it. Milton may not be regarded as a
great authority upon such a question; he writes, however, as considering
the matter settled. In his Latin poem on the death of Bishop Felton, of
Ely, who died in 1626, he says that Fame, with her hundred tongues, ever
a true messenger of evil and disaster, has spread the report of the
bishop's death:
"Cessisse morti, et ferreis sororibus,
Te, generis humani decus,
Qui rex sacrorum fuisti in insulâ
Quæ nomen Anguillæ tenet."
That Ely should mean "Isle of Eels," and that the expression Isle of
Ely is consequently redundant, is no argument against this view. The
Isle of Athelney, beyond all question, means the Isle of the Æthelings'
Isle. Compare also a remarkable instance of redundancy in the name of
the Isle of Axholme. This name, says Canon Taylor, "shows that it has
been an island during the time of the Celts, Saxons, Danes, and English.
The first syllable, _Ax_, is the Celtic word for the water by which it
was surrounded. The Anglo-Saxons added their word for island to the
Celtic name, and called it Axey. A neighbouring village still goes by
the name of Haxey. The Danes added _holm_--the Danish word for
island--to the Saxon name, and modern English influences have corrupted
Axeyholme into Axelholme, and contracted it into Axholme, and have
finally prefixed the English word _Isle_."[2]
The North Girvii and the South Girvii were two peoples that formed
districts of the East Anglian kingdom. In the early part of the seventh
century Anna was King of the East Angles; and Etheldreda, his daughter,
was born at Exning, near Newmarket,--a Suffolk parish, but detached from
the main county and entirely surrounded by Cambridgeshire,--about the
year 630. When quite young there were many suitors for her hand, but she
was altogether unwilling to accept any one of them. But the king, her
father, had so high an opinion of Tonbert--one of the noblemen of his
Court, who was alderman, or, as some render it, prince, of the South
Girvii--that he prevailed upon his daughter to be married to him, and
the marriage took place in 652, two years before Anna's death. From her
husband Etheldreda received the Isle of Ely--that is, the whole of the
region of the South Girvii--as a marriage settlement ("Insulam Elge ab
eodem sponso ejus accepit in dotem"). It is clear, therefore, that
Tonbert was something more than an officer of the king's if he had the
power of assigning such a district to his wife.
Tonbert only lived for three years after his marriage, and at his death
his widow came into possession of the Isle of Ely according to the
terms of her marriage settlement. She resided within it, and gave
herself up entirely to works of religion and devotion, entrusting the
civil government of her territory to Ovin. Her reputation for piety was
spread far and wide, and attracted the attention of Egfrid, son of Oswy,
King of Northumberland, who sought her hand in marriage. But no
attraction he could offer could persuade the princess to change her
state, until her Uncle Ethelwold, who was now King of East Anglia,
overcame her scruples. The disturbed state of his kingdom and the
importance of an alliance with so powerful a house as that of Oswy are
believed to have influenced Ethelwold to urge his niece to give her
consent to the proposed marriage; and the marriage took place at York.
It is constantly affirmed by all historians that in neither of these
marriages did the married couple live together as man and wife. At the
Northumbrian Court Etheldreda lived for twelve years, her husband
meanwhile, in 670, having become king. He had been for some years
previously associated with his father in the government. The queen,
however, became more and more wearied of the glories of her royal
position, and tired out her husband with persistent entreaties that she
might be permitted to withdraw herself altogether from his Court and
devote herself entirely to the religious life. At last she obtained his
reluctant consent, and betook herself to Coldingham, where Ebba, the
king's aunt, was abbess, and was there admitted into the order of nuns
at the hands of Wilfrid, Archbishop of York. This Ebba was afterwards
canonised, and her name is preserved in the name of the promontory on
the coast of Berwickshire known as S. Abb's Head.
After remaining about a year at Coldingham, the queen found it necessary
to move away. The king began to regret the permission he had given her,
and, following the advice of some of his courtiers, made his way to the
religious house where Etheldreda was settled, with the intention of
forcibly compelling her return to his Court. His intention having become
known to the abbess, she recommended the queen to escape at once to her
own territory, the Isle of Ely. The queen immediately followed this
advice. Egfrid arrived at Coldingham very soon after her departure, and
set off in pursuit. No reason for her leaving Coldingham is given by
Bede; but a lengthy account of the journey and its occasion is given in
the "Liber Eliensis." In the remarkable sculptures on the corbels in the
octagon are representations of two scenes that are unintelligible
without this account; it is necessary, therefore, to summarise it here.
Directly after setting out from Coldingham, which is some ten miles
north of the Tweed, not far from the sea, the queen, with two lady
companions, Sewenna and Sewara, reached a rocky eminence on the coast,
where the king in pursuit came up with them; but he was "prevented from
coming near them by a sudden and unusual inundation of water from the
sea, which surrounded the hill, and continued in that state several
days, without retiring into its former channel. Amazed at the
strangeness of this appearance, the king presently interpreted it as the
interposition of Heaven in her favour, and concluded that it was not the
will of God that he should have her again; and this occasioned his
retiring to _York_ again, leaving the queen quietly to pursue her
journey."[3] After the king had abandoned his intention of reclaiming
his wife, the three ladies proceeded southwards, and crossed the Humber,
and so through Winteringham and Alftham, where she stayed a few days,
and where she is said to have built a church. This can only mean that
she arranged for its building or undertook the cost. At West Halton, the
next village to Winteringham (as Bentham has observed), the church is
dedicated to S. Etheldreda; and this place may be identified with the
Alftham of the chronicler. The party had now assumed the dress of
pilgrims, and went by unfrequented roads, so as to escape observation.
At one point of their journey a second miraculous event is recorded. The
queen had lain down to sleep while her attendants kept watch, and had
stuck her pilgrim's staff in the ground. When she awoke, this staff was
found to have taken root and already to have brought forth leaves. It
was left standing, and grew into a flourishing tree; and the place, from
the circumstance, was named Etheldrede's-Stow.[4] A church was
afterwards built and dedicated to S. Etheldreda.
In course of time the three pilgrims arrived safely at their
destination. Wilfrid, the archbishop, soon joined them. He had lost
favour with King Egfrid, being supposed to have influenced the queen in
her decision to take the veil. The king, regarding his marriage with
Etheldreda as being _de facto_ dissolved, took another wife, who was for
various reasons much opposed to Wilfrid. The archbishop also greatly
resented the action of the king and Archbishop Theodore in dividing his
diocese without his consent into four different sees, and he was at one
time banished and at another imprisoned.
Etheldreda now set to work in earnest to establish a religious house.
Her buildings were begun in 673. This year is accordingly taken as the
date of the foundation of the monastery and of the town itself. King
Ethelbert is indeed said to have built a church a short distance from
the site of the present cathedral, at a place called Cratendune[5]; but
there is much uncertainty as to the fact, and some considerable
difficulties in reconciling the different references to it. It is stated
that this church had but a short existence, being destroyed by Penda,
King of Mercia. This Ethelbert was the Bretwalda, King of Kent, husband
of the Christian queen Bertha. After his conversion he was instrumental
in furthering the spread of Christianity among the East Saxons, and also
apparently in East Anglia, one of the East Anglian kings, Redwald,
having (but only for a time) given his adherence to the Christian
religion. As the building of this church near Ely is stated to have been
undertaken on the advice of Augustine, who died in 604, we have an
approximate date for it, since Augustine only arrived in England in 597.
Whether this church was so built by Ethelbert or not, it seems clear
there was some church in a state of partial decay standing in 673,
because it is recorded that at first Etheldreda designed to restore it
and to make it the centre of her religious work; but the present site
was judged to be more suitable, and there she began to build. The few
remaining inhabitants of Cratendune soon abandoned their dwellings, and
came to live near the rising buildings of the monastery.
Upon the death of King Anna, who fell in battle against Penda, King of
the Mercians, he was succeeded in turn by his brothers Adelbert and
Ethelwold, and the kingdom then went to Adulphus, Anna's son and
Etheldreda's brother. He greatly assisted his sister in raising the
buildings of her monastery, contributing considerably to the cost; but
the plans and arrangements are thought to have been designed by Wilfrid,
who is known to have spent much time at Ely. It was he who gave his
benediction when Etheldreda was formally instituted as abbess, and who
admitted the earliest members of the house. As was not unusual, the
society included monks as well as nuns. In later times the Benedictine
rule was adopted. In the very year of the foundation, possibly on
account of its royal foundress and the support of the king, her brother,
the special privilege of exemption from interference, either by king or
bishop, was assigned to it in a national assembly. This at least seems
to be the meaning of the decree, as given in "Liber Eliensis," that with
respect to the Isle of Ely, now dedicated to God's service, "Non de Rege
nec de Episcopo libertas loci diminueretur, vel in posterum
confringeretur."
To endow and provide for her monastery, the foundress assigned her
entire principality of the isle. In this way the temporal power, which
was afterwards so peculiar a feature in the privileges of the bishops,
was acquired. In about five years Wilfrid went to Rome to obtain the
Papal confirmation of the grants and liberties of the new foundation;
but Etheldreda did not live to see his return. She died of some
contagious disease, June 23, 679, in the seventh year after she had
become abbess. She was buried, by her own directions, not in the church,
but in the nuns' graveyard. She was certainly not fifty years of age at
the time of her death. As will be seen hereafter, her body was removed
into the church in the time of her successor.
No description is extant of the buildings of the monastery first
erected. We know that the present cathedral is on the same site. Nor has
any record been preserved of any discoveries that may have been made in
later times, when extensive operations must have necessitated the laying
bare of some of the original foundations. From what is known of some
contemporary monasteries, we may conclude that the church at least was
of stone. Not a fragment of it is known to be in existence at the
present day. Whatever may have been its extent, it was wholly destroyed
by the Danes in 870. For four years the Danes had been ravaging the
eastern part of the country, burning monasteries and slaying their
inmates. In the immediate district, Crowland and Thorney, Medeshamstede
(Peterborough), and Ramsey had already felt the severity of their
attack; crumbling walls alone remained where their destructive violence
had been experienced. On their first attack on Ely they were repulsed.
The advantages of the situation among the fens had already suggested the
formation of something very similar to the famous Camp of Refuge in the
eleventh century; and the force thus collected was sufficient to drive
the Danes to their ships. But before long they returned with greater
numbers, headed by one of their kings, most likely Hubba, and altogether
overcame the resistance of the people of the isle. The conquerors then
marched "directly to the Monastery of _S. Etheldreda_, at _Ely_, broke
their way into it, and put all the Religious to the sword, as well the
Nuns as the Monks, and others belonging to it, without any respect to
age, sex, or condition; and after they had stript the Monastery of every
thing that was valuable, and plundered the town, they set fire to the
Church and all the buildings and houses; and went away loaded with the
spoils, not only of the Town and Monastery of Ely, but likewise the
chief effects and riches of the country round about, which the
inhabitants of those parts had brought with them, as to a place of
security."[6]
The destruction of Ely monastery in 870 and its resuscitation by King
Edgar in 970 are an almost exact repetition of what took place at
Peterborough. But there is a difference in the history of the interval.
In the case of Peterborough, as far as is known, the ruin was complete,
and not the smallest attempt was made for a hundred years either to
restore the buildings or to revive the society. But at Ely, though the
destruction was hardly less complete, we read that within a few years
eight of the inmates of the monastery who had escaped when the place was
burnt came back, and to a certain extent continued the establishment.
They effected a partial restoration of a small portion of the church,
and performed divine service. It is said that King Alfred, who succeeded
in expelling the Danes, acquiesced in these clerks thus taking
possession of the place, although the former King of Mercia, finding the
monasteries deserted, had annexed all their property. It does not appear
certain whether these clerks were actual monks of the old monastery or
clergy of the place; but the new society thus inaugurated was like a
college of secular clergy. They were so far recognised as a settled
establishment that new endowments were acquired from various
benefactors.
The latter part of the tenth century was a time of great activity in
founding monasteries and in restoring those that had fallen into decay.
Edgar, the king, Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ethelwold,
Bishop of Winchester, were all enthusiastic in the work. The advancement
of the monastic system was the great object they all had at heart.
Application was made to the king by two nobles about his Court, both
foreigners, for a grant of the Isle of Ely, lately the possession of the
monastery. It does not appear what services either had rendered to
warrant the application. The sheriff of the county, however, interfered
to prevent any such grant being made. He represented to the king the
true state of affairs--in what way the Isle of Ely had become the
property of the monastery, how all had been lost after the Danish
invasion, and in what a lamentable condition the place was at the time,
although the remains of the sainted abbesses were still on the spot. The
king immediately saw here a new opportunity of furthering his religious
work. Committing the details to Bishop Ethelwold, he authorised him to
repair the church, provide fresh monks (but no nuns), make arrangements
for divine service, and supply new buildings for the new inmates. At the
same time the king undertook to provide lands and revenues for the
support of the monastery. When the bishop had discharged his commission
he obtained from the king a new grant of the whole of the Isle of Ely
for the restored monastery.
The charter of King Edgar is printed in the appendix to Bentham's
"History and Antiquities." The king describes himself as "Basileus
dilecte insule Albionis," and as desirous of shewing his gratitude for
the peace secured after conquering the Scots, Cambrians, and Britons by
restoring decayed monasteries and establishing them under the
Benedictine rule; and in particular he desires to honour the monastery
in the region of Ely (_Elig_), anciently dedicated to S. Peter, rendered
famous by the relics and miracles of the renowned virgin Etheldreda,
"who, with body uncorrupted, lasts even to this day in a white marble
mausoleum." He appoints Brithnoth first abbot, and assigns certain
lands and revenues, including ten thousand eels due to him as king, for
the maintenance of the monastery. To signify the public character of the
grant, it is stated in the attestation clause that it is made not in a
corner, but in the open: "Non clam in angulo sed sub divo palam
evidentissime." The charter is signed by the king, two archbishops,
twelve bishops, the queen, eleven abbots, nine dukes (_duces_), and
forty-one knights. This was in the year 970.
As has been said, the old establishment had given place to a company of
secular clergy. These were dispossessed by Bishop Ethelwold, unless any
chose to attach themselves to the new foundation upon the constitution
of the Benedictine house. But during the century that had elapsed since
the Danes evicted the monks, these clergy must have been careful
custodians of the church and buildings, most likely restoring by degrees
and erecting fresh accommodation as their means permitted, for there is
no account of any considerable rebuilding by Bishop Ethelwold. Repairs
and enlargement and decorations were necessary; but the bishop probably
found everything nearly ready to his hands, and he was not required to
undertake anything so extensive as had to be done under similar
circumstances at Peterborough. Everything was duly prepared for the new
monastery by the Feast of the Purification, 970; and on that day the
church and buildings, some partly restored and some newly erected, were
consecrated by Archbishop Dunstan.
During the time of Elsin, the second abbot (981-1016), some considerable
improvements were effected by Leofwin (of whom more will be told in a
later chapter) in the church. He rebuilt and enlarged the south aisle,
joining it to the rest of the building. In one of its porches, or
side-chapels (_in uno porticu_), he built an altar to the Virgin Mary,
erecting over it a stately image of gold and silver, adorned with
valuable jewels. It is probable that this chapel, and the one that
possibly replaced it when the present cathedral was built, may have been
colloquially known as the lady-chapel, for it is sometimes said that a
lady-chapel was in existence before the fourteenth century; but there
was nothing about it of the dignity and importance usually associated
with the name.
Although the Isle of Ely plays so important a part in the history of the
Norman Conquest, and was the scene of the last great stand made against
the Conqueror, neither the party of Hereward and the Camp of Refuge, nor
the forces of the king, did any material damage to the buildings of the
monastery. Its affairs were indeed brought to confusion, as the monks
had sided with Hereward, and the Conqueror gave orders for the plunder
of all the goods of the monastery. But the monks purchased from the king
his forgiveness, and the liberty of the place, and the restoration of
what property had been taken away, for the sum of a thousand marks. To
raise this amount they had to sell almost everything in the church of
gold and silver; and the "Liber Eliensis" enumerates among precious
objects thus alienated, crosses, altars, shrines, texts, chalices,
patens, basins, brackets, pipes (_fistulas_), cups, salvers, and the
image of the Virgin seated with her Son on a throne, which Abbot Elsin
had wrought of gold and silver. It is true that most, if not all, of
these were recovered in about ten years, for it is on record that the
Norman abbot, Theodwin, refused to accept the abbacy until the king
would restore what had been taken away. This seems to refer to the goods
sold to raise the money demanded as the price of his forgiveness.
When the building of the existing cathedral was commenced there was not
the same necessity as existed in many other cases. There was no ruin to
be rendered serviceable. A church was actually standing and in constant
use. It must therefore have been felt that the importance and wealth of
the foundation demanded a more magnificent minster. When Simeon, the
ninth abbot (1081-1093), was appointed, he found the property of the
abbey still in an unsatisfactory state. Lands really belonging to it
were in many instances held by powerful persons, who under various
pretences defied the rights of the religious house. So the abbot's first
work was to recover these. By help of the king's commission he was
entirely successful. But while inquiries were being instituted, and
proceedings for recovery were being taken, he conceived the design of
erecting a very noble church, and set about laying the foundations of
it. He could not, from his great age, have hoped to see much progress
made, but he did live to see a very considerable portion completed. He
devoted a great part of his private fortune, which was large, to the
work. He began with the transepts. This is in itself sufficient to shew
that there was a choir in use. The regular practice, when a wholly new
church was to be built, was to commence at the east end. The lower part
of both transepts is Simeon's work. It is of plain Early Norman
character, and represents all that is now in existence of what he
erected. From a slight increase in ornamentation in the capitals in the
north transept, we infer that the actual commencement was made in the
south transept. Of course these transepts were of four bays--not as at
present, of three only--the bay in each case nearest the central tower
having been destroyed when the tower fell. That tower was of Norman
date, and is sometimes spoken of as Simeon's Tower. But he cannot have
built the whole of it. If he raised it as high as the great supporting
arches, which is of course possible, there must have been also supports
in all the four adjacent portions of the church, reaching almost to the
summit of the arches, so that he would have had to build at least one
bay of the triforium and clerestory stages. If he did so, all such work
perished with the fall of the tower. It is more probable that he raised
the piers of the tower arches only a few feet higher than the main
arcade of the transepts.
Abbot Simeon's successor, Richard (1100-1107), proceeded with the
building. No abbot had been appointed by William II., and the works had
consequently been suspended for seven years. Notwithstanding many
troubles and distractions (he was actually deposed at a council at
Westminster in 1102, though restored by Papal bull in the next year),
Abbot Richard made great advance in the building of the church. He was
only abbot for seven years. By 1106 he had finished the east end, which
may have terminated in an apse as at Peterborough, and possibly the
tower. On October 17 in that year the remains of Saints Etheldreda,
Sexburga, Ermenilda, and Withburga were solemnly removed to the new
choir, and re-interred in front of the high altar. For some reason not
explained there was no such attendance of high ecclesiastical
dignitaries as was usual on such occasions. The Bishop of Norwich, four
abbots, and one archdeacon were all that could be found to attend the
translation. The account is noteworthy because it describes the orderly
processions from "the Old Church," and the taking the bodies thence one
at a time, "with singing and praise into the New Church." We are not to
conclude from this that the former church was on a different site. The
new buildings were apparently quite close to the former, and possibly
some part of the old church had already been pulled down as the new
choir was being built, and the completion of the aisles of the choir
would necessitate the pulling down of the remainder. But the remains of
the foundress and others must first be removed to their new
resting-place. Both Simeon and Richard, while urging on the church
building, were by no means regardless of the domestic buildings of the
monastery. These were being enlarged and improved at the same time. Two
bays of the nave next to the tower were also the work of Abbot Richard.
Two years after the death of Abbot Richard the bishopric was
constituted. The bishop henceforward was the abbot of the house, though
the superintendence of the domestic concerns of the monastery devolved
upon the prior. Until 1198 the bishops appointed the priors, but
afterwards they were elected by the monks. There was naturally some
difficulty in dividing fairly between the bishop and the monastery the
peculiar rights which were attached to the government of the Isle of
Ely; but all was amicably arranged. As part of the arrangement the
bishops were discharged from all obligation to repair or sustain the
fabric of the church. But numbers of the bishops did contribute largely
to its building and embellishments; and henceforward the works carried
on are assigned to the bishops holding office at the time.
By degrees, during the twelfth century, the building of the nave
advanced. For upwards of sixty years we find no record in the chronicles
of any specific work done at any particular time. When we come to Bishop
Riddell (1174-1189) we read that he "carried on the new work and Tower
at the West-end of the Church, almost to the top." How high this tower
was we cannot tell. It was probably surmounted by a pyramid. A later
bishop, Northwold (1229-1254), removed the original capping and built
the existing Early English stage; so we conclude from the words: "Ipse
construxit de novo turrim ligneam versus galileam ab opere cementario
usque ad summitatem."
The first three bishops ruled for a period of eighty years. This seems
too long a time to assign for the building of the nave, because there is
so little difference in detail as we examine the work from east to west;
and even when later work in a large building is purposely made to
assimilate to what had been built some years before, the experienced eye
can usually discover slight variations in mouldings or ornamentation
which indicate something of a new fashion in architecture. Here we
detect nothing of the sort. We can well understand how much reason there
was at Ely why building work should have been in the twelfth century
intermittent. The troublous times of Henry I. and Stephen were specially
unfavourable to this place. Bishop Hervey, moreover, would have had but
little time to devote to building. The complete constitution of the
bishopric, the regaining possession of property that had been alienated
in the time of Rufus, and the thorough establishment of his temporal
jurisdiction over the isle took up all his time and energies. He was
also constantly abroad in attendance on the king. In the next bishop's
time the disaffected barons assembled in the Isle of Ely, and the bishop
was of their party. The whole district was alternately in the hands of
the king and of the barons. The property of the monastery suffered
greatly by fines and exactions. The bishop himself was constantly moving
about from place to place, and was many times compelled to make a
hurried escape in fear of being apprehended by the king's party. When at
last his peace was made with the king, his submission cost him three
hundred marks. Neither his own resources nor those of the monastery were
sufficient to raise this sum. Some of the treasures of the church had
already been sold. Now the monks were persuaded to part with silver from
S. Etheldreda's shrine and other valuable ornaments, in order to lend
the bishop the sum he required. After the death of King Stephen there
occurred a time of tranquillity. The bishop was advanced in dignity and
became a Baron of the Exchequer. These various considerations make it at
least very probable that no additions to the church of any importance
were made until the reign of Henry II.; and, if so, we may come to the
conclusion that the whole of the nave was built in his reign. The
difference in the style of architecture between the Late Norman and the
Transition to Early English is very noticeable as we look at the
remaining portion of the west front, south of the galilee porch, the
lower stages shewing no trace of anything but pure Norman, while above
we see pointed arches, quatrefoils in circles, and other indications of
the approaching change of style.
Bishop Eustace (1198-1215) made large additions to the fabric at his own
expense. One sentence in the account of his work has given rise to much
controversy: "Ipse construxit a fundamento novam galileam ecclesiæ
Eliensis versus occidentem sumptibus suis." Was this the Early English
porch now known as the galilee? Some have thought that this name was
bestowed upon the whole of the western transept, not including the
porch. This is the view taken in recent years by Canon Stewart. He shews
it was the current local opinion at the beginning of the eighteenth
century. Dr. Tanner, who wrote the account of Ely in Browne Willis's
"Mitred Abbies," takes this view, and speaks of the south arm of the
transept as the "old Galilee" and the north arm as the "new Galilee." In
the plan in Willis's "Survey of Cathedrals," 1727, the south part is
described as the "South galilee, now the church workhouse," while on the
north side we read, "Ruined part of Galilee." No doubt the character of
the architecture is not inconsistent with the theory that the northern
part may have been built or finished by Bishop Eustace, soon after he
was appointed, in intentional imitation of the pronounced Norman work
adjacent. Canon Stewart also points out that Bishop Eustace is known to
have rebuilt S. Mary's Church, where the rough masonry and plain lancets
are wholly unlike the beautiful work in the west porch. And he adds: "It
is evident that Eustace had nothing to do with the erection of any part
of the present cathedral. The galilee which he built has totally
disappeared, and the porch which has gone under that name of late years
must be the work of some unknown benefactor, who had probably seen Hugh
de Northwold's presbytery, and determined to lengthen the church
westward as it had been extended in the opposite direction."[7] The more
generally received opinion, however, is that Bishop Eustace did really
build what is now called the galilee. This is accepted by Bentham,
Essex, and Miller, and more recently by Sir G. G. Scott.
[Illustration: The Interior Of The Galilee Before Restoration,
_c._ 1817. _From Stevenson's Supplement to Bentham_.]
No one can doubt that the entire west front, when standing, was much
improved by the addition of this great porch. The front indeed never had
the painfully flat appearance presented at some cathedrals, for its
extreme length was not very great, and the projecting turrets at each
end would greatly relieve the impression that it was the side, and not
the end, of a building. But it requires something more than a tower in
the centre of the front to give a true finish to a composition in which
there runs at the top a single horizontal line from north to south.
Richly traceried windows are not sufficient. Deeply recessed doorways
are better; but here there was only one, of the nature of which we have
no account. The great porch is exactly what was wanted.
In 1757 Essex recommended the removal of the galilee as being an
encumbrance. The roof was ruinous, the walls were in bad condition; it
was "neither ornamental nor useful"; it would cost a large sum to put it
into decent repair. Happily this advice was not followed. In the course
of the renovation then undertaken it was discovered that the remains of
an older porch had been incorporated with the present one.
Bishop Northwold (1229-1254) commenced the building of the present
presbytery.[8] There are now nine bays between the screen and the east
end. The apse, if such were the termination of the Norman church, was
situated between what are now on each side the fourth and fifth piers
from the screen. A line drawn from the west side of the fifth piers
north and south would just touch the eastern end of the apse. Bishop
Northwold pulled down the apse and one bay west of it, and extended the
presbytery four more bays to the east, building in all six bays, of
which two were included in the ritual choir, and four were to the east
of the high altar. All this was done between the years 1235 and 1251.
The bishop also erected a lofty timber spire on the west tower, which
remained until the present Decorated stage was built.
We have no account of the consecration of the Norman choir. But after
this extension of the building eastwards we read that the whole church
was solemnly dedicated on September 17, 1252, in honour of Saints Mary,
Peter, and Etheldreda. King Henry III. was present, as well as Prince
Edward, afterwards king. When the new portion of the church was ready,
the remains of the four saints were removed further east. In the Norman
church the high altar was in the chord of the apse, assuming one to have
been built; after Bishop Northwold's alterations it was placed at the
east end of the present sixth bay, where the apse terminated. The shrine
of the foundress was placed some feet further to the east, its eastern
face standing about twelve feet in front of the existing altar.
This work of Bishop Northwold completed the plan of the cathedral as it
now stands. The lady-chapel was indeed built afterwards, but that is to
all intents and purposes a separate building. Nor is there any later
thirteenth-century work in the church itself. The building operations of
the second half of the century were confined to the domestic part of the
monastery. As these were doubtless carried out by the convent from its
own resources, there is little notice to be found of them in the records
of the see. It is known that the rectory, now in the deanery grounds,
belonged to this period. It was finished in the time of Prior
Hemmingston (1274-1288).
[Illustration: THE SHRINE OF S. ETHELDREDA AS GIVEN IN BENTRAM'S "HISTORY
AND ANTIQUITIES"]
The first half of the next century was a time of great and important
work at the church. In 1321 the first stone of the lady-chapel was laid
by Alan de Walsingham, the sub-prior, afterwards sacrist. It was
finished in 1349; and though John of Wisbech had the charge of the
erection, the sacrist having more important work to do at the church
itself, we can hardly doubt that the designs were by Walsingham. The
position of the lady-chapel, to the north-east of the north transept, is
unique. At Bristol it is to the north of the north choir aisle. At
Peterborough the lady-chapel (destroyed during the Commonwealth) was in
a nearly similar situation, projecting eastward from the north
transept. Whatever may have been the reason at Peterborough for this
unusual position (some say that a public road close to the apse
prevented an extension of the choir to the east), there is no necessity
to question the accuracy of the explanation generally given of the site
of the lady-chapel here--namely, that the place of honour, east of the
high altar, was already appropriated to the shrine of S. Etheldreda.
On the night of February 12, 1322, the eve of S. Ermenilda's day, the
central tower fell. Its insecurity had long been known. The monks had
just left their matin service in S. Catharine's Chapel. Some persons
conclude from this fact that the choir had already been disused as being
unsafe; but unless there is other evidence of this, the mere fact of the
monastic matins being held in the chapel nearest to the domestic
buildings seems hardly sufficient to justify the conclusion. The chapel
here named was not (according to Dean Stubbs) the one now dedicated to
S. Catharine at the west end of the cathedral, but one that adjoined the
chapter-house. The fall of the tower destroyed three bays of the choir.
Different opinions are held as to the character of the architecture of
the bays thus destroyed. Some hold that Bishop Northwold built the choir
and presbytery, from the central tower to the east end, in the Early
English style, and that three of his bays were thrown down by the fall
of the tower[9]; others think that the bays now ruined were part of the
Norman work.[10] It is most probable that Northwold, designing to
increase the length of the presbytery, only pulled down so much of the
Norman work as was necessary for his purpose, leaving the western arches
standing. This opinion is adopted in the account of his work given
above. If this is correct, there would have been _four_ Norman arches
left standing between the tower and the Early English work. Of these,
three on each side fell. When the new choir was constructed, the octagon
taking up the space of the first bay, the fourth bay--presumably left
uninjured--was removed, as being out of keeping between the Early
English and the new Decorated bays; and hence three new bays were built,
reaching to Bishop Northwold's work. All accounts agree that _three_
bays were destroyed. But if both choir and presbytery were of Early
English date, there must have been _four_ bays overthrown, because the
three Decorated bays now existing do not correspond in position to the
three destroyed, for the present third bay from the screen is where the
fourth bay was when the tower was standing.
No one could possibly have been found in the whole kingdom better
qualified to cope with the great disaster that took place at Ely in 1322
than the officer of the house who had the special custody of the fabric.
The originality and skill with which he designed and carried out the
noble work that takes the place of the central tower, which is without a
rival in the architecture of the whole world, are beyond all praise. The
exquisite work in the lady-chapel would in itself have been sufficient
to establish Walsingham's reputation as an architect of the very highest
order of merit; but it would have revealed nothing, if it stood alone,
of the consummate constructive genius which he displayed in the
conception of the octagon. Of the design itself we shall speak
hereafter. No time was lost in removing the mass of ruins; and we can
imagine, as the ground was cleared and the grandeur of the opportunity
gradually dawned upon Walsingham's mind, how he formed the design of
dispensing with the four central pillars, and thereby securing eight
instead of four for the support of his substitute for a central tower.
At the same time the weight which these supports would have to bear was
very much less than that of a massive tower of stone; so that there need
be little fear of the fall of the lantern. Fergusson has pointed out
that the roof of the octagon is the only Gothic dome in existence.
Beresford Hope[11] compares the octagonal lanterns of Milan and Antwerp
with that at Ely, which he calls unique in this country.
The building was begun as soon as the space was cleared. The stonework
was finished in 1328, little more than six years after the tower fell.
The woodwork of the vaulting and lantern took longer time; but this also
was quite complete in 1342. Walsingham had become prior in the previous
year. The weight of the lantern, it need hardly be said, is not borne,
though it looks like it from below, by the vaulting that we see. There
is a perfect forest of oak hidden from sight, the eight great angle
posts being no less than 3 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 8 inches in section.
There is also the leaden roof of the octagon (of that part which is
exclusive of the lantern), 18 feet above the vaulting, to be supported.
A glance at Plate 44 in Bentham's "History" gives some slight idea of
the method of construction.[12]
[Illustration: THE OCTAGON ABOUT 1825.
_From Wilds' English Cathedrals._]
With such a man as Walsingham on the spot we cannot be wrong in
assigning to him the authorship of all the architectural designs that
were carried out in his lifetime. It is believed--for the date is not
exactly known--that he died in 1364. Besides the lady-chapel and
octagon, he must have designed the singularly beautiful bays of the
presbytery between the octagon and Northwold's work. The exquisite way
in which the main characteristics of the Early English work are adapted
to the Decorated style demands our highest admiration. The arrangement
of the three western bays on each side is exactly like Northwold's work,
while the additional grace and beauty of ornamentation mark the advance
in taste that distinguished the Decorated period. Bishop Hotham
undertook the whole expense of rebuilding this portion of the cathedral.
He did not live to see it completed, as he died in 1337, but he left
money for the purpose. The total expense of this rebuilding is given at
£2034 12_s._ 8¼_d._, while the cost of the octagon and lantern amounted
to not very much more--£2406 6_s._ 11_d._ Nearly all this latter cost
was defrayed by the monastery, little more than £200 having been
contributed from external sources. These amounts must be multiplied by
twenty, if not twenty-five, to represent the present value. The
rebuilding of these three bays in the presbytery involved the rebuilding
of the corresponding portions of the aisles.
The domestic buildings were also improved, and some new ones erected by
Walsingham. "The Sacrist's Office he almost new built, made several
additional apartments in it, and encompassed the whole with a strong
wall; in the North-west corner of which he built a square building of
stone, and covered it with lead; part of this he appropriated to the use
of Goldsmith's work, and for other purposes relative to his Office;
another Building taken notice of as built by him, was contiguous to the
Infirmary; it was of stone, covered with lead, and had convenient
offices under it, chiefly intended for the use of the _Custos_ of the
Infirmary. In his time also, Bells[13] were first put up in the great
Western Tower."[14] Of this period the following are enumerated as works
executed in the monastery[15]: Prior Crauden's chapel, the prior's new
hall above the old one, the guest hall, the fair hall, and the residence
of the sub-prior.
On the death of Bishop de Lisle in 1361, Walsingham was elected bishop
by the convent, but the election was set aside by the pope. This eminent
architect was buried in the cathedral, but the precise spot is not
known. The epitaph on his tomb has been preserved, and in it we find
that he was buried "ante Chorum" (in front of the choir). This would
mean the ritual choir as then existing, and would fix the place of his
interment approximately at the spot where there is now a large
monumental slab, from which the brass has been removed; and this has
always been traditionally said to be the actual stone placed over his
body. The brass represented an ecclesiastic with mitre and pastoral
staff. The objection to this having been Walsingham's memorial, that
these emblems could not have been correctly placed upon it, has been
thus met: "On the other hand it is contended that although Alan died a
Prior of the Convent, he had been elected Bishop by the Monks, though
his election was overruled by the Pope, and that seeing to his successor
Prior Powcher the Pope gave permission that he and all future Priors of
Ely should wear the mitre and carry the crozier, it is possible that the
Monks had anticipated somewhat the Pope's edict, and had represented
their beloved Prelate with episcopal mitre on his head and crozier in
his hand."[16] He well deserved the description in the epitaph, "Flos
operatorum" ("The Flower of Craftsmen"). The rich woodwork in the
choir--the stalls with their beautiful canopies--is also certainly
Walsingham's work.
Besides the great operations of this century there were various
alterations and additions made in the cathedral of which the date is not
recorded. The triforium in the presbytery was rearranged; the external
walls were raised, and the Early English windows of Northwold's work
were replaced by much larger ones with Decorated tracery. As the
clerestory windows were not altered, the lean-to roof of the triforium
was of course made much more flat than before. The graceful flying
buttresses, with their elegant pinnacles, are of this same date. The
character of Northwold's triforium windows and the corbel table below
the parapet may be still seen in two bays on the south side. The aisle
windows of the presbytery were also enlarged in the Decorated period;
but they are not of the same design as the triforium windows, and they
were probably not inserted at the same time. Judging by ordinary methods
of discriminating dates by character and style, we should suppose the
aisle windows to be earlier than those above; possibly some of this was
done by Bishop Barnet (1366-1373). The whole designing is so unlike any
of Walsingham's known work that we can hardly suppose that he was the
author.
After the extensive changes of the fourteenth century were completed,
the fabric of the cathedral was left practically as we see it now.
Rearrangements of the interior have taken place on many occasions since,
and the numerous side-chapels have been despoiled of their altars; but
there has been no material structural change.
From the death of Bishop Barnet in 1373 to the suppression of the
monasteries no Bishop of Ely is credited with having done anything
towards the fabric of the cathedral except Bishop Gray (1454-1478). Some
of them were at variance with the prior and convent, and would be little
inclined to spend money on the church. Those that had a taste for
architecture displayed it in beautifying their palaces or manor-houses,
or upon buildings connected with the universities or other places in
which they had private interest. Some were men of great political
influence, and found their time and energies fully occupied in matters
of national importance. One at least spent immense sums upon the
drainage of the fens. Some did indeed erect chapels or shrines in the
cathedral, or left provision that they should be erected after their
deaths, but these were as memorials of themselves. The monastery carried
out whatever was done in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as long
as the monastery existed. The first such work was begun early in the
fifteenth century by Prior Powcher: this was the erection of the upper
portion of the western tower. At the top of the tower, before this
addition, there was a wooden spire covered with lead. The upper story
now is octagonal, and there are also octagonal turrets at the corners,
detached, except at top and bottom, from the main body. These were
clearly built so as to harmonise with the large projecting
turrets--massive enough themselves to be called towers--at the ends of
the west front. This octagon was also itself--but probably at a much
later date--surmounted with some sort of spire. An engraving dated 1786
shows this spire: it was no improvement to the tower. It was happily
removed early in the nineteenth century. This additional story was built
without due preparation. The extra weight was too much for the support
which had been sufficient for the smaller tower; accordingly casing was
added round the four great piers to increase the support. This was in
Bishop Gray's time, and he contributed largely towards the cost. "The
Prior and Convent were at great charges in repairing the lower part of
the Western Tower; the Arches and Pillars of which, being found
insufficient for its support, were therefore obliged to be strengthened,
by wholly new-casing them with Stone, in the most substantial manner, as
we now see them."[17] It has been reasonably conjectured that this extra
weight was the cause of the ruin of the northern part of the west
transept, or that it was then damaged beyond repair. To Bishop Gray is
also assigned in particular the insertion of two windows in the north
aisle of the presbytery, near the place where he was afterwards buried.
The undoubted Decorated character of the upper stage of the west tower
marks it as belonging to the very earliest years of the century. There
is not the least tendency towards any features of the Perpendicular
style. Without reckoning tombs and chapels, there is no structural work
of distinct Perpendicular character to be seen at Ely Cathedral, except
some remains of the cloisters, and the windows in the nave aisles and
clerestory, and those in the upper parts of the great transept, and the
large supporting arches which have been inserted beneath the Norman
arches of the west tower. The triforium walls in the nave were raised in
the fifteenth century, as those in the presbytery had been raised in
the fourteenth. The style of the tracery shews that this alteration was
carried out quite late in the century, perhaps about 1480. In the south
transept there is also a large Perpendicular window. The very late east
window of the south presbytery aisle was inserted as part of Bishop
West's Chapel, who died in 1533.
In 1539 the monastery was surrendered to the king. Such of the domestic
buildings as were not required for the use of the dean and canons were
as usual sold. The Constitution of Henry VIII. provided for the
customary officers of a cathedral establishment. The prior became the
first dean, and remained in office till his death, eighteen years later.
Though the minster had become a cathedral when the bishopric was
instituted, yet the prior and convent were always custodians of the
fabric, and apparently supreme therein; and there was nothing strictly
corresponding to a capitular body. A memory of the fact that the bishop
was in place of the abbot remains to this day in the position of the
bishop's seat in the choir. There is no throne, properly so called. The
bishop occupies what is in most cathedrals the dean's seat--on the south
of the entrance at the screen. The north side is in consequence the
Decani side, and the Cantoris side is on the south. This position of the
dean's stall on the north, though very unusual, is not unique. It occurs
also at Durham and Carlisle; but at those cathedrals there is a throne
for the bishop, and the bishop's seat in a stall in the south,
corresponding to the dean's in the north, is not met with elsewhere. "At
Ely alone, of all cathedrals in Christendom, owing to its first bishop
having been an abbot who was himself the banished bishop of another see,
the diocesan has continued to occupy the abbot's stall, while the head
of the corporation (before the Reformation a prior, and since then a
dean) has occupied the opposite stall, usually assigned to a sub-prior
or sub-dean."[18] There were three Benedictine abbeys which retained
their monastic establishment after a bishop had been made and the
minster became a cathedral--Canterbury, Durham, and Ely.
It is always taken for granted that the destruction of the beautiful
work in the lady-chapel, as well as of the shrines and statuary in the
cathedral, was effected very soon after the dissolution of the
monastery; but precise authority for this seems not to be forthcoming.
It is known that Bishop Goodrich was an ardent supporter of the
Reformation movement, and that he issued an injunction in 1541 which
would have authorised such destruction. There was no other material
damage done to the cathedral at this time. In 1566 a parish church,
dedicated to S. Cross, which was situated at the north side of the nave,
was found to be so dilapidated that no attempt was made to render it fit
for service, and the dean and chapter gave to the parishioners the
lady-chapel for a parish church, and it has so remained to this day.
It is probable that the wealth of the monastery had kept the fabric
itself in such a state of complete repair that there was no occasion for
much sustentation work for a long time after the Reformation--at least,
we read nothing of any work being undertaken or of any portions of the
building falling into decay. In the Commonwealth period the cathedral
suffered less than in many places. The stained glass was indeed
destroyed, and the cloisters and some parts of the domestic buildings
pulled down, by order of commissioners. As Oliver Cromwell was Governor
of the Isle of Ely, and often in the city, he was not likely to let the
cathedral services alone. In January, 1644, he interfered during
service, and stopped it, ejecting the congregation, and is said to have
professed that this was an act of kindness, in order to prevent damage
to the building. According to Carlyle,[19] he had written to the
officiating minister, requiring him "to forbear altogether the choir
service, so unedifying and offensive, lest the soldiers should in any
tumultuary or disorderly way attempt the reformation of the cathedral
church." If the people of Ely had heard about the "reformation" of the
cathedral church at Peterborough, as carried out by the soldiers of the
Parliament in July of the preceding year, they were certainly well
advised in taking this hint. Bishop Wren--an eager opponent of the
Puritans--was at the time in prison, where he remained until the
Restoration.
The only account we have met with of disrepair in the seventeenth
century says: "A little part of the end of the North Part fell down
_March_ 28, _Anno_ 1699, but it was soon neatly rebuilt again at the
Charge of the Church, with some Assistance from a Brief."[20] This was
the north-west[21] corner of the north transept. The rebuilding was
carried out under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, nephew of the
bishop.
There is an account of the impression produced upon a visitor to Ely in
the reign of William and Mary, the quaintness of which may perhaps
justify the length of the quotation: "The Bishop does not care to stay
long in this place, not being good for his health; he is Lord of all the
island, has the command and ye jurisdiction.... There is a good palace
for the Bishop built, but it was unfurnished. There are two Churches.
Ely Minster is a curious pile of building all of stone, the outside full
of Carvings and great arches, and fine pillars in the front, and the
inside has the greatest variety and neatness in the works. There are two
Chappels, most exactly carv'd in stone, all sorts of figures, Cherubims
Gilt, and painted in some parts. Ye Roofe of one Chappell was One Entire
stone most delicately Carv'd and hung down in great poynts all about ye
Church. The pillars are Carv'd and painted with ye history of the bible,
especially the new testament and description of Christ's miracles. The
Lanthorn in ye quire are vastly high and delicately painted, and fine
Carv'd work all of wood. In it ye bells used to be hung (five); the
demention of ye biggest was so much that when they rung them it shooke
ye quire so, and ye Carv'd worke, that it was thought unsafe; therefore
they were taken down. There is one Chappel for Confession, with a Roome
and Chaire of State for ye priest to set to hear ye people on their
knees Confess into his Eare through a hole in ye wall. This Church has
ye most popish remaines of any I have seen. There still remains a Cross
over the alter; the Candlesticks are 3 quarters of a yard high, massy
silver gilt, very heavy. The ffont is One Entire piece of White Marble,
stemm and foote; the Cover was Carv'd Wood, with ye image of Christ's
being baptised by John, and the holy Dove descending on him, all finely
Carv'd white wood, without any paint or varnish."[22]
In the eighteenth century some extensive repairs became necessary, and
some alterations in the arrangements of the choir were carried out. The
former chiefly affected the roofs of the octagon and presbytery. Other
parts of the cathedral seem to have needed some repair, but not to a
considerable extent. The latter consisted in the moving of the ritual
choir to the extreme east end of the church, the returned stalls at its
western limit being at the sixth piers from the east end. This
alteration was effected in 1770.
The position of the high altar has been perhaps more often moved in this
cathedral than in any other. In the Norman choir the altar was situated
in the centre of the fourth bay east of the present octagon. When Bishop
Northwold enlarged the presbytery it was moved one bay further east.
After the rebuilding of the three bays west of Northwold's work, it
seems to have been moved again westward, as far as the first piers east
of the octagon. Again in 1770, at the time of which we are now speaking,
it was moved to the extreme east end, and was placed just against the
east wall. Now it stands between the second piers from the east.
It is not a little singular to notice the enthusiasm with which this
eighteenth-century change was greeted. Bentham says[23] it was "an
alteration which had long been wished for, by all persons of true
taste." And again: "It is allowed by the best judges to be one of the
most useful and ornamental Improvements that could have been effected";
and he gives a long disquisition highly praising the alteration. The
eastern portion, formerly "an useless encumbrance," was now brought into
use. The organ and voices could be better heard, the view of the octagon
was greatly improved, and the nave and transepts "have acquired their
due Dimensions." Compare this with Hewett's observations less than
eighty years later: "Never was there a more ill-judged step than the
removal of the Choir hither, towards the latter portion of the last
century. To give it such stinted proportions, and for this purpose to
displace some of the fine old monuments, and to hide others, to obscure
the pillars, and, above all, to erect the miserable organ gallery which
we now behold, may surely be pronounced most tasteless performances"[24]
When he wrote, the proposal was to replace Walsingham's stalls in the
octagon, and to make Bishop Hotham's three Decorated bays into a
sacrarium, and so presumably re-erect the high altar on the very spot
where it stood in Norman times.
Bishop Mawson contributed £1000 towards the removal of the choir to the
east end. He had also been at the expense of paving the choir with black
and white marble, and of inserting stained glass at the east end. The
work done at this time was under the superintendence of the architect
Essex. An organ-gallery was placed at the entrance of the choir: judging
by the plan given by Bentham, this occupied the whole of the eastern bay
of Hotham's work. Screens of some sort are marked as crossing both
aisles, as a continuation of the western face of this organ-gallery: or
perhaps these were only metal gates. The design of the whole seems to
have been very poor: "the miserable organ gallery" is what Hewett calls
it. The original stone screen that formed the entrance to the choir
before the tower fell, situated in the bay of the nave next to the
octagon, was still standing. It had served as the organ-loft until the
alteration. Browne Willis, who wrote before Bishop Mawson came to Ely,
records that the choir had been paved with black and white marble at the
charge of Bishop Gunning, and that he had proposed to move the choir to
the east end nearly a hundred years before it was actually done, "which
if he had done ... it would have added vastly to the Beauty of the
Church."[25]
Still later in the century, in 1796, Wyatt "the destructive" was
directed to make a report on the state of the fabric, and to supply
estimates for a restoration. Among other things he recommended the
selling of the lead on the roof, the removal of the rood-loft, and the
reducing of the number of bells from five to one.
The nineteenth century began with works of destruction. In 1801[26] the
spire on the tower was taken down. Soon afterwards, in accordance with
Wyatt's recommendation, the ancient rood-loft in the nave was removed.
As it had ceased to be the entrance to the choir, it was probably deemed
useless. The roof of the galilee was also removed, and the lancets at
the west of the cathedral blocked up. Mr. Bernasconi's contract, in
1801, for the repair of part of the west end, amounting to £232 14_s._
6_d._,[27] probably covered the whole of this. A note on the receipt
speaks of a picture at the east end in 1800, a pulpit in 1806, and a new
window in 1808; but whether all these were new or merely repaired does
not appear. From Goodwin's "Ely Gossip" we learn that the upper part of
the doorway of the galilee porch was "renewed in plaster." In a pamphlet
published in 1827 it is said that "so much has been done to this
cathedral of late as to afford a reasonable ground of hope, that ere
long the beautiful Purbeck shafts will be cleared of the yellow ochre
which coats and defiles them, and that the earth will be cleared away
from the walls on the north side, where at present it is injuring both
walls and pavement."[28] What had then been recently done, and thus
mentioned, apparently with approval, did not long satisfy the public
taste, although a large outlay testified to the good intentions, if not
the judgment, of the authorities. Walsingham's stalls were painted; and
the nave, octagon, lantern, and transepts were colour-washed. Within
about twenty-five years what had been introduced as embellishments were
removed as disfigurements, and the removal cost possibly as much as the
introduction.
[Illustration: ELY CATHEDRAL AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
_From Stevenson's Supplement to Bentham._]
Soon after Dean Peacock came to Ely he commenced the restoration and
decoration of the fabric which have gone on continuously to the present
time, and are not yet complete. Besides many munificent gifts, of which
the cost is not known, upwards of £70,000 has been expended upon the
works at the cathedral since 1843. The first great work included in this
sum was the entire re-leading of the roof. In 1842 there had been a fire
discovered in the roof near the west tower, but no great damage was
done. Most likely it was the prospect of having to spend large sums upon
the cathedral itself that induced the dean and chapter to sanction the
demolition of the sextry-barn, "on the ground that the repairs it
required were too expensive." This barn was situated to the north of the
lady-chapel. It was an object of the greatest architectural interest,
and its destruction is much to be lamented. It was of Early English
date, and is said to have been a "noble and almost unrivalled" building.
It seems to have been of the same character as the abbey tithe-barn at
Peterborough, which was perfect a very few years ago, and of which the
whole of the wooden posts and beams are still to be seen _in situ_. The
Peterborough barn was also of thirteenth century date; it had aisles and
nave all formed by the oak beams and supports. The Ely barn was much
smaller.
In July, 1845, the restoration had been well begun, and was being
carried on with energy. The works in Bishop Alcock's chapel had been
commenced. The south end of the west transept, hitherto used as a kind
of storehouse or lumber-room, was repaired and thrown open to the
church. A poor deal roof was added as a temporary protection. The choir
roof was scraped and cleaned. In the lady-chapel the colour-wash that
had obscured the remains of the beautiful carvings was removed. The west
tower was ceiled. Up to this time there appears to have been no properly
qualified architect in charge of the work. In 1847 Mr. Scott (afterwards
Sir G. G. Scott) was appointed architect to the cathedral. He soon made
an extensive examination of the whole building, and issued a report upon
the state of the fabric and the amount of restoration needful.
Dean Peacock, who so thoroughly identified himself with the restoration,
died in 1858. His successor, Dean Goodwin, entered with enthusiasm upon
the work, and was instrumental in raising large sums of money for the
carrying out of the architect's designs. After he had been dean seven
years he published a paper upon the progress that had been made, which
commences with these words: "The time seems to be now come, when the
completion of the great work of restoration, commenced under Dean
Peacock, and guided for many years by his care and judgment, may be
looked upon as within reach."[29] In this paper he enumerated these
works as already accomplished:
1. The choir restored and rearranged.
2. Central lantern restored (Peacock Memorial).
3. South-east transept restored.
4. South-west transept restored.
5. Roof of north transept restored and painted.
6. Nave ceiled and painted.
7. Nave roof repaired and re-leaded.
8. S. Catherine's chapel rebuilt.
9. Bishop Alcock's chapel restored.
10. Galilee porch re-paved.
11. Western tower opened, ceiled, re-roofed, strengthened, etc.
12. About seventy windows filled with stained glass.
Of the painting the north transept roof the expense was borne by the
tradesmen employed upon the cathedral. The restoration of Bishop
Alcock's chapel was undertaken, out of respect to the memory of their
founder, by Jesus College, Cambridge. The painting of the nave ceiling
was the work of Mr. le Strange and Mr. Gambier Parry, the former of whom
also painted the ceiling of the west tower. Exclusive of special
donations for specific works included in the above list, the dean
reckoned that up to the time of his report £27,185 had been spent, of
which the dean and chapter had contributed no less than £15,200. Several
individual members of the chapter had, besides money gifts, presented
windows or other decorations, or had been responsible for various
structural repairs. At a rough estimate the total sum expended had
amounted to £40,000. The works still to be executed were these:
1. Paving the nave, octagon, and transepts.
2. Completion of pinnacles and parapet of octagon.
3. Internal decoration of lantern.
4. Repair of galilee.
There would also be much to be done in the matter of properly warming
and lighting the cathedral; but those expenses were more strictly within
the ordinary obligations of the dean and chapter.
The only one of the above works that calls for special notice is the
restoration of the octagon and lantern. In a statement circulated by the
dean and chapter in 1853 it was declared that "of all works which remain
to be undertaken, the most considerable and the most important is the
restoration of the lantern, including the decoration of the vault, the
substitution of windows of an appropriate character for those which now
disfigure it so seriously, and the addition of the outer corona of
turrets and pinnacles as originally designed by Alan de Walsingham." But
nothing was done towards this during Dean Peacock's lifetime. In the
summer before his death he had described more particularly the
disfigurements and the mutilations which the lantern had undergone; and
he further pointed out the unsafe condition of the exterior. The upper
windows of the octagon were of the "meanest description of carpenter's
Gothic"; they had been reduced from four to three lights each; they had
been shortened more than three feet (probably by Essex in the eighteenth
century); the upper timbers were in a ruinous state, and incapable of
being used again. The original design provided for eight lofty turrets
at the angles of the greater octagon and four pinnacles in the middle of
its longer sides. At the first meeting of the chapter after Dean
Peacock's death it was resolved that no memorial of him would be so
appropriate as the restoration of the lantern, and Mr. Scott was
instructed to prepare designs at once. A tentative sketch of his design
was published in October, 1859; and the opinion of experts was invited.
Mr. Scott's report, dated June 10, 1859, gave the result of his careful
examination. He concluded that the wooden lantern was originally "to a
certain extent an imitation of the general form of the _stone octagon_
below it. Each had large windows of four lights below, with circular
panels in the spandrils; each had a distinct story over these windows,
lighted by smaller windows consisting of several detached lights, and
each had considerable turrets, probably surmounted by pinnacles at the
angles, and, in all probability, open parapets between them."[30] He
embodied the results of the evidence he had got together in the design
he submitted. Further examination, in the following year, satisfied the
architect that no spire had ever been erected on the lantern, and that
even if Walsingham had ever intended to have one, he had yet finished
his work without any preparation for such an addition. A design for such
a spire was, however, prepared and submitted to the dean and chapter,
but it was never adopted.
As was to be expected, many opinions were expressed upon the design.
Some wanted the whole to be surmounted by a pyramidal capping. It was
objected that the design was a stone construction for what must of
necessity be erected of wood. It was pointed out that Walsingham used
his upper story as a bell-chamber, and argued that a true restoration
should aim at reproducing this feature. In the end Scott's design was
carried out exactly as proposed, except that the eight small square
turrets of the wooden lantern have no pinnacles.
The enumeration of works completed in 1866, as given by Dean Goodwin
above, did not include several important and costly gifts. The chief of
these were: the carved panels above the stalls, supplied by individual
donors; a pinnacle at the south-east corner of the choir (Mr. Beresford
Hope); the reredos (Mr. J. Dunn Gardner); the font (Canon Selwyn); the
gates of aisles of presbytery (Mr. Lowndes and Dean Peacock); the brass
eagle lectern (Canon E. B. Sparke); and the monumental effigies of Bishop
Allen and Dr. Mill. Canon E. B. Sparke had also contributed to the
restoration of the south transept; Mr. H. R. Evans, sen., and Mr. H. R.
Evans, jun., had helped with the works in the west tower; the Rev. G.
Millers, minor canon, had bequeathed £100, and his residuary legatees
gave another £300, which was applied to the ceiling of the nave; Miss
Allen, daughter of the bishop, also bequeathed £500, appropriated to a
new pulpit; and Bishop Turton left the same amount for re-paving the
nave.
The only other work of importance done before Dean Goodwin left for
Carlisle was the reconstruction of the organ. Canon Dickson, in his
admirable historical account of the organ, is confident that the
instrument in use in 1831 was the original pre-Reformation organ,
gradually enlarged from time to time with "all the improvements
suggested by the progress of musical and mechanical art." Its
preservation during the Commonwealth period is possibly due to the
personal influence of Oliver Cromwell. About that date (1831) the organ
was rebuilt by Elliott and Hill. It was fitted into the old cases, of
Renaissance design. From the similarity of these cases to some which are
known to have inclosed organs built by Renatus Harris, the old organ has
sometimes been attributed to him; but there is "no record whatever of
the employment of Harris by the Dean and Chapter."
The progress made in the time of Dean Merivale (1869-1894) was steady
and substantial, but calls for no detailed account. The foundations of
many parts of the building were made more secure; much of the pavement
was renewed; the tower at the west was strengthened with iron bands;
several stained glass windows were inserted. Perhaps the most
noteworthy undertaking of this period was the decoration of the
interior, and the completion of the series of pinnacles of the exterior,
of the octagon and lantern. In a summary of the amount spent between
1843 and 1898 the total, exclusive of special gifts, is given at £69,543
1_s._ 0_d._[31]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The origin of the name Ely has been discussed in "Fenland
Notes and Queries," ii., pp. 316, 371.
[2] "Words and Places," 2nd ed., 1865, p. 355.
[3] Quoted in Bentham, p. 52.
[4] This place has not been positively identified; but the
general opinion is that Stow, about ten miles north-west of
Lincoln, is the place. The existing church there is, however,
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It has been said that, besides Ely
Cathedral, six ancient churches in England are dedicated to S.
Etheldreda. In this number the ancient episcopal chapel in Ely
Place and the destroyed church at Histon, Cambridgeshire, are
probably not included. Other churches with this dedication occur
at Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, West Halton, Lincolnshire,
Bishop's Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Norwich, and S. Audrie's, in
Somerset. The writer has not been able to discover the sixth. At
Swaffham Prior, ten miles south of Ely, are the ruins of a small
chapel with this dedication.
[5] A mile south is a field still known as Cratendon Field.
[6] Bentham, p. 68.
[7] "Architectural History of Ely Cathedral," 1868, p. 53.
[8] The presbytery, as the term is used at Ely, signifies the six
eastern bays of the central portion of the church east of the
transepts. The choir, or portion devoted to the daily choral
service, varied in position from time to time.
[9] See Murray's "Handbook," p. 198.
[10] See Hewett's "Brief History," p. 10.
[11] "The English Cathedral of the Nineteenth Century," 1861, p. 195.
[12] See also Dean Stubbs' "Historical Memorials of Ely Cathedral,"
pp. 151, 152.
[13] The largest of these bells, weighing 6,280 pounds, was
called by Walsingham's name.
[14] Bentham, pp. 221, 222.
[15] "Handbook," ed. Stubbs, 20th ed., p. 29.
[16] Ibid., p. 83. The full epitaph is given on p. 84.
[17] Bentham, pp. 177, 178.
[18] Hope's "The English Cathedral of the Nineteenth Century," p. 178.
[19] Quoted in Murray's "Handbook," p. 258.
[20] Browne Willis's "Survey," vol. iii., p. 334.
[21] Hewett ("Brief History," p. 24) says the north-eastern angle,
and gives the date 1669; but the account in the text is
correct.
[22] "Through England On a Side-Saddle in the time of William and
Mary, being the Diary of Celia Fiennes." Published 1888. Quoted
in "Fenland Notes and Queries," vol. i., pp. 291-293.
[23] Page 214.
[24] Page 17.
[25] Page 334.
[26] Date so given in "Handbook," 20th ed.
[27] Gibbons' "Ely Episcopal Records," p. 112.
[28] "Notes on the Cambridgeshire Churches," p. 4.
[29] "Ecclesiologist," xxvii., p. 71.
[30] "Ecclesiologist," xxi., p. 26.
[31] "Handbook," 20th ed., App. II.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE WEST.]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE GALILEE.]