Ely Museum

Ely Museum occupies the Bishop's Gaol, a medieval prison building in the cathedral close. The collection covers the history of Ely and the surrounding fens from the Ice Age to the present — geology, natural history, Roman and Anglo-Saxon artefacts, medieval life, and the extraordinary engineering achievements of fenland drainage.

The drainage of the fens in the 17th century is particularly well covered. Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden was brought in to oversee the project, which involved cutting vast new drainage channels across the landscape and building pumping stations to move water uphill. It fundamentally transformed eastern England's geography and ecology — the museum explains how and why. The Iron Age bog body "Stretched Man" is among the collection's more striking exhibits.

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The museum is housed in the old bishop's gaol — a medieval prison that also served as debtor's prison well into the 19th century. The cells are still visible, and the building's grim history sits in strange contrast to the cheerful local history displays it now contains. One of the museum's more unusual exhibits covers the Ely Prize-Fight of 1833, an illegal bare-knuckle bout that drew large crowds from across the region before the police intervened.

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