Ely, Cambridgeshire
Coordinates: 52°24′N 0°16′E / 52.40°N 0.26°E
Ely (
pronunciation (info • help); IPA /'iːli/, rhyming with "freely") is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire in the east of England and 23 km (14.3 mi) north north-east of Cambridge.
| City of Ely | |
 West façade of Ely Cathedral from Palace Green, the former village green |
|
 City of Ely shown within Cambridgeshire | |
| Area | 23 sq mi (60 km2) [1] |
|---|---|
| Population | 15,102 (2001 Census) |
| - Density | 657/sq mi (254/km2) |
| OS grid reference | TL5379 |
| Civil parish | Ely |
| District | East Cambridgeshire |
| Shire county | Cambridgeshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ELY |
| Postcode district | CB6, CB7 |
| Dialling code | 01353 |
| Police | Cambridgeshire |
| Fire | Cambridgeshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | South East Cambridgeshire |
| Website | East Cambridgeshire District Council |
| |
Ely has been called a city for a long time because it has a cathedral. However, the Royal Charter making it a city was only issued in 1974. Ely's population was 15,102 in 2001. This means Ely is the third smallest city in England. Only after Wells in Somerset and the City of London which are smaller.
The University of Cambridge rowing team has a boathouse on the bank of the river and train there for the annual Boat Race against the University of Oxford.
The 1944 Boat Race was raced on the River Great Ouse near Ely, the only time it has not been held on the River Thames. The race was won by Oxford despite Cambridge being ahead early in the contest.
Landscape
Ely is built on an clay which is one of the highest points in the Fens. This is very different to the West of Cambridgeshire which is made up of limestone. The river Great Ouse runs through the city, and is one of the longest rivers in the UK with many others flowing into it. The drainage area of the rivers that form the Great Ouse is around 6000 square miles (16,000 square kilometres). This is five times larger than the Fens itself The landscape was a large marsh until the 18th century, when much of the Fens was drained, making Ely no longer an island. Because of this, the ground around the city is very fertile and most of the region is used for farming. The marshes also had many different animals in them such as the Eel, which the city is named after.
Climate
Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in Britain. It is protected from coastal wind from the east. It gets an average of 24 inches (600mm) of rain per year. Because of this, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter.
| Weather data for the area, an average from 1970 - 2000 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 7.0
(44.6) |
7.4
(45.3) |
10.2
(50.4) |
12.6
(54.7) |
16.5
(61.7) |
19.4
(66.9) |
22.2
(72) |
22.3
(72.1) |
18.9
(66) |
14.6
(58.3) |
9.9
(49.8) |
7.8
(46) |
14.1
(57.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1.3
(34.3) |
1.1
(34) |
2.9
(37.2) |
4.0
(39.2) |
6.7
(44.1) |
9.8
(49.6) |
12.0
(53.6) |
11.9
(53.4) |
10.1
(50.2) |
7.1
(44.8) |
3.7
(38.7) |
2.3
(36.1) |
6.1
(43) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 45.0
(1.772) |
32.7
(1.287) |
41.5
(1.634) |
43.1
(1.697) |
44.5
(1.752) |
53.8
(2.118) |
38.2
(1.504) |
48.8
(1.921) |
51.0
(2.008) |
53.8
(2.118) |
51.1
(2.012) |
50.0
(1.969) |
553.5
(21.791) |
| Source: Met Office Archived 2019-01-07 at the Wayback Machine | |||||||||||||
Ely, Cambridgeshire Media
1880 map of the Isle of Ely with nearby rivers
East aspect of St Mary's vicarage, a Grade II* listed building. Oliver Cromwell lived here between 1638 and 1646. Since 1990, the building has been open as the Oliver Cromwell's House tourist attraction and as Ely's tourist information centre.
Earliest known map of Ely by John Speed, 1610.[lower-roman 1] The cathedral is dedicated to St Peter at this time and a windmill
The Market Place, Ely, pencil and watercolour by W. W. Collins published 1908 showing northeast aspect of Ely Cathedral in the background with the Almonry—now a restaurant and art gallery—in front of that and the 1847 corn exchange building, now demolished, to the right of the picture.
OpenMap of Ely demonstrating city boundary and environs.*City/parish boundary* Built-up area* Countryside* Greenfield land
Sessions House (formerly Shire Hall), Lynn Road: Courthouse, built 1821. Since 2013 the headquarters of City of Ely Council.
A 1648 drainage map showing the Isle of Ely still surrounded by waterJoan Blaeu (1648) Regiones Inundatae
Eel Day carnival procession down Fore Hill, 2007
This cannon was captured during the Crimean War at the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) and was presented to the people of Ely by Queen Victoria in 1860. It is located on the Palace Green west of Ely Cathedral and northwest of the Bishop's Palace.
Engraving from The Illustrated London News of the station at Ely during the opening on 25 October 1847 of the Lynn and Ely Railway, now part of the Fen Line
References
- ↑ "Historic Census Population Figures". Cambridgeshire County Council. 2010. Archived from the original (XLS) on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
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