Ely Cathedral Day Trip

Ely, 25 kilometres north of Cambridge on the railway line, is a natural day trip: a small market town dominated by one of England's most extraordinary cathedrals. Ely Cathedral, begun in 1083, is most famous for its Octagon — the central tower that collapsed in 1322 and was replaced with a unique wooden octagonal lantern tower, one of the finest achievements of medieval engineering in England.

The train from Cambridge takes 20 minutes and runs frequently. The cathedral dominates the town from the moment you arrive; it is visible from miles away across the flat Fens. The Stained Glass Museum inside is worth the extra admission.

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A story
Ely Cathedral was built on the one bit of solid ground in the Fens that rises above the surrounding marshes — hence the medieval monastery's nickname "the Isle of Ely." The town of Ely, once genuinely an island when the Fens flooded, has been accessible by dry land only since large-scale fenland drainage in the 17th and 18th centuries. The cathedral was begun in 1083 and completed over the following four centuries.

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