The adventure continues in the Fens, an ancient marsh filled with beautiful churches, and a ruined monastery in Suffolk.
Day 4 of my adventure around Great Britain started in the Fens, a naturally marshy area in Eastern England, with a breathtakingly unique cathedral in Ely, in Cambridgeshire, followed by the ruined monastery in the quaint Suffolk town of Bury St. Edmunds. Cambridgeshire and Suffolk are truly crammed with history and make for a very enjoyable day trip.
Google An abbreviated version of the route I took on Day 4.
Stop 1: Ely Cathedral
The wonderfully unique Ely Cathedral. This was the best photo I could get. The sun was annoyingly right behind the cathedral. Stupid sun.
Ely Cathedral’s nave with its fabulous painted wooden ceiling.
The first cathedral at Ely was founded by the Anglo-Saxon Saint Æthelthryth (a nice old-English name) in 673 CE. Of course, it was destroyed by Danish invaders in 870 and rebuilt again, a cycle seen throughout England at the time. The current Ely Cathedral dates from 1083. The cathedral was founded on the highest area of the Fens and can be seen from afar in the surrounding marshes.
Romanesque details around a door that still survive from the Norman Period.
Ely just would not be an English cathedral if the design had not changed a bit. The front of the church was rebuilt into the Gothic style in the 13th century, along with other additions. Calamity befell the church on February 12, 1322, when the old Romanesque tower collapsed. Rebuilt in Late Gothic style, the result was an amazing octagonal lantern shape tower, completely setting Ely Cathedral apart from the rest of England’s long list of cathedrals. In fact, when built, the Octagon was the largest crossing span in northern Europe.
The altar and columns of the octagonal tower.
The amazing lantern. It may not be original, but it’s fantastic. My photos didn’t turn out so here’s an awesome one. Thanks David Iliff.
The lantern is distinctive, but so is the painted ceiling of the church’s sanctuary. Although it was added during a restoration in 1839, the ceiling does not look out of place in a thousand-year-old cathedral, blending in perfectly with the old Gothic and Romanesque elements.
More of that amazing painted ceiling added in the Victorian Era.
Random Fun Fact: Parts of the movie The King’s Speech were filmed here. Ely Cathedral served as a substitute for Westminster Abbey. (I’m guessing they couldn’t get a filming permit. They don’t like that at Westminster.)
Stop 2: Bury St. Edmunds
I am a sucker for ivy covered buildings.
Bury St. Edmunds began its long history before the Anglo-Saxon invasion, but rose to prominence as one of the royal towns of the Saxons. Sigebert, King of the East Angles, founded a monastery here in about 633 CE. In 903, King Edmund was buried here after he was slain by the Danes in 863 (the same ones who invaded Ely) and his tomb became a site for pilgrimage after reports of miracles spread. By 925, the fame of St. Edmund’s corpse had spread across England, and the name of the town was changed to St. Edmund’s Bury. Somehow that later became Bury St. Edmunds.
Some of the ruins of the monastery.
The monastery expanded as it became one of the richest in England. An abbey church was built in the 11th and 12th centuries. However, the abbey church and the monastery did not survive the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII. The monastery and abbey fell into ruins, and the remaining ruins are now surrounded by gardens. The former abbey courtyard has been turned into a lovely park.
A very lovely park with St. Edmundsbury Cathedral in the background.
Parts of the monastery still remain. Abbey gate still guards the ruins of the former grand monastery. The gate served as a secular gate for the servants of the abbey (the priests got their own). In proper English fashion, the original was destroyed during the Great Riot, in 1327, by locals angry over the power of the monastery.
The rebuilt Abbey Gate, now leading to a very lovely park.
Some of the ruins have been reused for newer buildings.
The Norman Gate (1120-1148) was designed to be the main entrance to the church and is still used as the belfry (bell tower) for the new cathedral. The tower is virtually unchanged.
Close-up of the Norman Tower which stands next to St. Edmundsbury Cathedral and serves as its bell tower.
In 1914, St. James, a local parish church, became the cathedral of the new Diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich in 1914. Originally founded in the 12th century, the church has largely been rebuilt, staring in 1503, with more alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the 1960s, there has been a goal to turn the small parish church into a cathedral. The chancel (altar) was rebuilt and transepts and side chapels were added. Even a Gothic Revival tower was added in 2000-2005. The new additions are seamless with the design of a small English Gothic church.
The very nicely done interior of St. Edmundsbury Cathedral. (A relief after Chichester Cathedral.) The only drawback was the ugly chandeliers.
A nicely painted ceiling of the tower. The ceilings in this church were expertly done.
My day in the Fens was shorter than planned. I may have gotten a bit sick (bad food truck kebab) which cut my day a little short. No matter how well planned a trip is, little things always come up. I did have a wonderful day exploring the Fens, well, it was good till the kebab made a repeat performance (Tip: avoid processed doner.)
Cambridgeshire and Suffolk made a lovely Day 4 on this 30 day trek around Great Britain, and I recommend St. Edmund’s Bury and Ely Cathedral to any historical traveler in eastern England.
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Start at the beginning of my 30 days around Great Britain!
