The Anglo-Saxon church was demolished, but some of its relics, such as the remains of its benefactors, were moved to the cathedral. 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.
The making of stained-glass windows has hardly changed since the 12th century. A stained-glass window consists of pieces of coloured glass held together in a latticed web of lead. The glass has previously had details of faces, hands and drapery painted and fired on to it in black or brown paint. About the yeare 1300, yellow stain was discovered, This had the ability to turn white glass yellow or blue glass green, and was extremely useful in the highlighting of hair, haloes and crowns.
Aesop's fable was very popular in all kinds of medieval art, although it was extremely rare in stained glass. An early 15th-century roundel of Reynard the Fox, Reynard is seen preaching to an unsuspecting congregation of geese. Stained glass continued to flourish in England until the Reformation of the Church in the 1540s when changes in religious outlook undermined the need for sacred art.
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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, a monastery was built on the site by Athelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in 970 and dedicated to St. Peter and the Blessed Virgin by Dunstan in 974. |
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For centuries, Etheldreda's shrine was the focus for vast numbers of medieval pilgrims. 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 monastery at Ely was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. Ely suffered less than many other monasteries, but even so, statues were destroyed together with carvings and stained glass. St Etheldreda's Shrine was destroyed. The cathedral was soon refounded in 1541. 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.