The Island of the Eels
Digging deep into old Ely

17 May 2001
Repeated 29 April 2002

Find out more

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Visiting the site/Ely Museum

Ely Museum
The Old Gaol
Market Street
Ely
Cambs CB7 4LS
Tel: 01353 666655
There is an exhibition of some of the finds from the excavation at Ely Museum, which it is intended should provide a permanent home for the most interesting artefacts. The museum is situated on the corner of Lynn Road and Market Street, 150 metres from the cathedral. The excavation site itself is closed to the public while it is developed as parkland, which is due to open to the public in the summer of 2002.

Other websites

Ely On-Line
www.ely.org.uk/
An award-winning community website (which fully deserves its awards), Ely On-Line contains a large range of resources for both the resident and the visitor. These include an extensive history section, spanning information on recent Bronze-Age discoveries in the area through to the present day. Its section on Ely cathedral, in particular, is well worth browsing, and the site's webcam is unusual in that it both works and has something worth seeing – the cathedral, which is illuminated at night. There is also much useful information on accommodation, public transport and what's on in the area.

Catholic Encyclopedia
www.newadvent.org/cathen/
For anyone interested in exploring the monastic roots of Ely and its cathedral, the Catholic Encyclopedia is a remarkable compendium of historical, religious and other information, which provides a rich factual resource, albeit with an obvious Catholic emphasis. It has, among very much else, detailed encyclopedic reports, with thoroughly researched linked sections to matters of related interest, on Henry VIII (at www.newadvent.org/cathen/07222a.htm) and the dissolution (called here the suppression) of the monasteries (www.newadvent.org/cathen/10455a.htm). There is access to the encyclopedia's index from every page, so you can browse further to your heart's content.

Abbeys and Cathedrals in England and Wales
www.britannia.com/church/cath.html
It's hard to beat Britannia's Abbeys and Cathedrals in England and Wales, which has illustrated pages and links for every abbey and cathedral in the two countries as well as historical and other information.

Excavation news stories and photos
The following links are to miscellaneous news stories and web pages with photos of the Ely excavation.

Ely On-Line
www.internet.ge.ms/elydig/
This slightly haphazard section of the Ely On-Line website contains a number of articles and photos about this and other digs in Ely, together with information about some archaeological controversies in the city. Articles on Time Team's visit to Ely include:
'Channel 4's Time Team in Ely.'
Excavation open day report by Ely On-Line correspondent, Alistair Hitching.

Ely Standard
'The prince and the presenter.' Tony Robinson's first visit to the excavation.
'Digging up our history.' A report from halfway through the excavation.
'Team digs into baker's treat as work finishes.' End-of-excavation report.

Cambridge News
'Pot luck as 'time team' reveals new findings.' Report 10 weeks into the excavation.

Council for British Archaeology
'Post-medieval pottery collection found in Ely.'
Council for British Archaeology news report.

Alan's Picture Album
Excavation open day photos
Time Team enthusiast Alan Radley's collection of photographs taken during the excavation open day.

Further reading

Books on Ely

Story of Ely and its cathedral by Bernard E Dorman (Black Horse, Norwich, 1986) £7.95 ISBN: 0950006734

Mediaeval Development of the Town of Ely by Dorothy M Owen (Ely Society, 1993) £2 ISBN: 0903616149

Memory Lane: Ely and the fens by Mike Petty/Cambridge Evening News (Breedon Books, 2001) ISBN: 1859832156

Brief History of Ely and Neighbouring Villages in the Isle by J H Clements (Cambridgeshire Libraries, 1985) ISBN: 1870724356

Ely by Pamela Blakeman and Michael Petty (Tempus, 1997) £9.99 ISBN: 0752410075

Ely City Guide by John Brooks (Jarrold, 1999) £2.50 ISBN: 0711710783

Books on monasteries

Monasteries in the Landscape by Mick Aston (Original, Batsford, 2nd edition, Tempus, 1993/2000) hardback/paperback £18.99/£14.99 ISBN: 0152419013/0752414917
This is a revised, rewritten and extensively updated edition of Mick's 1993 Monasteries book (long out of print), which focused on the place of the monasteries in the British landscape. In this new book, Mick explains how and why monasticism developed in Britain and why monasteries were placed where they were. The study looks beyond the closed world of the monastery, abbey or priory to examine their agricultural, industrial and commercial activities, which had a huge impact on the surrounding countryside and towns.

Monasteries and Religious Orders in Britain 1000–1300 edited by Janet Burton (Cambridge, 1994) hardback/paperback £45/£15.95 ISBN: 0521374413/0521377978
This work traces the development of monasticism in England, Scotland and Wales from the last half-century of Anglo-Saxon England to 1300. It explores the nature of the impact of the Norman settlement on monastic life, and how Britain responded to new, European ideas on the monastic life. In particular, it examines Britain's response to the needs of religious women. It covers every aspect of the life and work of the religious orders: their daily life, the buildings in which they lived, their contribution to intellectual developments and to the economy. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between religious houses and their founders and patrons. This shows the degree of dependence of religious houses on local patrons. Indeed, one major theme which emerges from the book is the constant tension between the ideals of monastic communities and the demands of the world.

Medieval Monasteries by Jeremy Patrick Greene (Leicester University Press, 1992, new edition 1994) paperback £19.99 ISBN: 071852229X
A good overview of the archaeological (and literary) evidence for monastic houses in Britain in the Middle Ages and life within them with frequent reference to important sites. Everything from the layout of buildings to the diet and drinking habits of the monks who inhabited them is covered in this wide-ranging book. The archaeology is put in the context of the complex history of monasticism in Britain, from its origins on isolated islands to the dissolution of corrupt and wealthy monastic estates in the 16th century under Henry VIII. Clearly written, with no architectural or ecclesiastical jargon.

Medieval Monasticism by C H Lawrence (Longman Higher Education, 2000) paperback £15.99 ISBN: 0582404274
Although monasticism still exists in the present-day, it is no longer the prominent feature of the social landscape that it was in medieval times: for a thousand years the monasteries and religious orders played a major role in the society, economy and the culture of the West, and the service they rendered to European civilisation is incalculable. Moreover, richly endowed by kings and magnates, the great monastic houses and their leaders figured as much on the political, as on the spiritual, map of the medieval world. Ranging across Europe and the Middle East, this book reconstructs the internal life, experience and aims of the medieval cloister. It also explores the many-sided relationships between the monasteries and the secular world from which they drew recruits. This third edition contains new thoughts and perspectives. Key features include: a revamp of the material on the Friars, as a result of Lawrence's work on the subject; an update of the material on the Cistercians; and a section on monastery food.

Medieval England: a social history and archaeology from the Conquest to 1600 AD by Colin Platt (Routledge, 1997) paperback £18.99 ISBN: 0415129133
Colin Platt has the knack of weaving the varied sources of history into a convincing and readable tale. Here, he ranges from the Domesday Book through castles, cathedrals and monasteries to social issues such as the Black Death, social unrest and life in the towns. Well written and beautifully illustrated.

Discovering Abbeys and Priories by Geoffrey Wright (Shire, 1998) paperback £5.99 ISBN: 0747802459
The new edition of this user-friendly handbook clarifies the difference between abbeys and priories, traces the history of monasteries from Anglo-Saxon times to the dissolution, and describes the different monastic orders. Considerable reference is made to sites open to the public.

Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales by David Knowles and R Neville Hadcock (Addison Wesley, 1994 reprint) hardback $134.00 (Guildford Press,1972) hardback £70 ISBN: 0582112303
Mick Aston writes: 'Thank goodness this is back in print, though it needs a new edition. Quite honestly, you cannot begin to look at monasteries without this at your elbow. Basically it is a gazetteer, with plans and details for all the monastic remains in England and Wales, and a short historical section on each house. Mine is battered and held together with Sellotape because it goes with me whenever I go out.'

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