There are other places also called Ely. See Ely (disambiguation).
Ely (pronounced to rhyme with mealy) is a cathedral city in east Cambridgeshire, East Anglia. The population was 11,760 in 1994. It is the main city in the Isle of Ely.
The city was founded in 673 by Saint Ethelreda, daughter of King Anna. The foundation was the establishment of an abbey to the north of the village of Cratendune on the Isle of Ely. Ely is on the River Great Ouse and was a significant port until the 18th century.
The abbey was destroyed in 870 by Danish invaders and not rebuilt for over a hundred years. The site was one of the last holdouts in England to William I, Hereward the Wake not surrendering until 1071. The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely was started by William I in 1083 and completed in 1351, despite the collapse of the main tower in 1322, which was rebuilt as a octagonal tower. The bishopric of Ely was founded in 1109, it covers 1507 miles² and holds 610,000 people (1995) and 341 churches. The city took part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.
Oliver Cromwell lived in Ely for several years after inheriting the position of local tax collector in 1636.
Nowadays the city has an unusually large amount of tea shops, charity shops and greetings card shops with many local businesses closing down.
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