Oliver Cromwell's House

Oliver Cromwell's House on St Mary's Street is a well-preserved half-timbered building where England's future Lord Protector lived for about a decade before the Civil War. It's now a museum and tourist information centre, with period-furnished rooms depicting domestic life in the 1640s and an exhibition on Cromwell's life and the Civil War.

The house is informative without being overwhelming — it takes about an hour to go round. The location immediately next to St Mary's Church makes for a pleasant short walk from the cathedral close. The staff are knowledgeable and the exhibition strikes a reasonable balance about Cromwell's controversial legacy — neither hagiography nor condemnation.

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A story
Cromwell lived in Ely from 1636 to 1647 as a tithe collector for the cathedral — a minor administrative position that paid reasonably well. He was in his thirties, a relatively obscure country gentleman, when he moved into this house. Within six years he would be commanding parliamentary armies; within twelve he would effectively rule England. The quiet domestic rooms of the Ely house give no hint of what was coming.