ELY CATHEDRAL (in full, The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely) is the principal church of the diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and the seate of the Anglican Bishop of Ely. It is known locally as "the ship of the Fens", because of its prominent shape that towers above the surrounding flat and watery landscape. The monastery, and much of the city of Ely, were destroyed in the Danish invasions that began in 869 or 870. Etheldreda's monastery flourished for 200 years until it was destroyed by the Danes. It was refounded as a Benedictine community in 970 when a monastery was built on the site by Athelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in 970. This became a cathedral in 1109, after a new Diocese of Ely was created out of land taken from the Diocese of Lincoln.

The first Christian building on the site was founded by Ætheldreda, daughter of the Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia, who was born in 630 at Exning near Newmarket. She acquired the land from her first husband, Tondberct, chief of the South Gyrvians, and after the end of her second marriage to Eegrfrid, a Northumbrian prince, set up and ran a monastery on the site in 673. Etheldreda knew that God had called her to the religious life. Her first husband gave her the Island of Ely. Eventually her second husband released Ætheldreda from her marriage vows. She fled to the Isle of Ely where, in 673, she founded a double monastery for monks and nuns on the site of the present Cathedral and was installed as the first Abbess. When she died on 23 June 679, a shrine was built to her memory in the Saxon church on the same site. (Incidentally, the common version of Etheldreda's name was St. Awdrey, which is the origin of the word tawdry - because cheap souvenirs were sold at fairs held in her name.) The present cathedral was started by Abbot Simeon (1082-1094) under William I in 1083. Building continued under Simeon's successor, Abbot Richard (1100-1107). The Anglo-Saxon church was demolished, but some of its relics, such as the remains of its benefactors, were moved to the cathedral. Works on the present Cathedral began in the 11th century under the leadership of Abbot Simeon, and the monastic church became a cathedral in 1109 with the Diocese of Ely being carved out of the Diocese of Lincoln.

The main transepts were built early on, and are the oldest surviving part of the cathedral. The West Tower (215 feet) was built between 1174 and 1197, and the octagon was added to it in 1400. In 1322 the main crossing tower of Simeon's cathedral collapsed, injuring nobody but destroying the choir, and was rebuilt as an octagonal tower to a plan by the sacrist, Alan de Walsingham. This central octagon (1322-1328) rises from the whole breadth of the building and towers up until its roof forms the only Gothic dome in existence. The Galilee porch (1198-1215) is unrivalled. The cathedral is built from stone quarried from Barnack in Northamptonshire, with decorations in Purbeck marble and local clunch. The plan of the building is cruciform (cross-shaped), with the altar at the east end. The total length is 565 feet (172.2 m). The transepts cross the nave below the Octagon. Attached to the north transept is the Lady Chapel (built 1321-1349 in the Decorated style). The Romanesque style of the west front shows that it was built in the 12th century, with the addition of a 13th-century Galilee (porch). The west tower is about 65m high. The north-west transept collapsed in the 15th century and was never rebuilt, leaving a scar on the outside of that corner that can still be seen. The nave is over 75 m long and has a Victorian painted wooden ceiling.

In 1539, during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, the cathedral suffered only minor damage, but St Ætheldreda's shrine was destroyed although Ely suffered less than many other monasteries, but even so, statues were destroyed together with carvings and stained glass. For centuries, Etheldreda's shrine was the focus for vast numbers of medieval pilgrims. The cathedral was soon refounded in 1541. The Shrine was also destroyed at the Reformation but a slate in the Cathedral marks the spot where it stood, and the 23 June and 17 October are still kept as major festivals in the Cathedral. The Cathedral was refounded with a Chapter of eight canons in 1541 as was the Kings School. Robert Steward, the last Prior of the monastery, became the first Dean.

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