Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Ely and the cathedral

Today Carol took us over to Ely to see the cathedral, it was built on a hill in a swamp originally and we were told eels were caught and sold to pay for most of the stone for the cathedral


We did a tour of the ground floor of the cathedral,  and found out heaps, of course it is now four days later and it is fading away!! The cathedral was begun by Etheldred who was a Queen but left her husband the King to become a nun....she founded the monastery here. 
Painted ceiling of the cathedral, the original painter died from poisoning. ..no suspicious circumstances , he used to lick his paint brushes and so ingested arsenic and other paint substances! 



The main alter backing is encrusted with precious stones, there used to be 6 candles on the alter and two Victorian gas lamps at the side, they must have made the back look really sparkly.


Can't help myself......love the stained glass windows!!
Octagonal centre of the cathedral, the original collapsed and was rebuilt by the Victorians, who also replaced the stain glass windows that were taken out when Henry VIII   decided to destroy all the monasteries in the country. At the same time the walls were brightly decorated in red, green and gold but were painted over in white wash many times so the faithful would not be distracted from their prayers.




This is the floor plan of the cathedral and monastery buildings, it covered a large area and these were all over the UK.


Yew berries, they are everywhere at present

Cathedral from the back
Carol found a secret garden but as it had a lock on the gate we assumed we were not supposed to be in there!!

Tourists at the Cathedral!!


Just love the different door ways you find here

Very old tomb stones by the cathedral

Walking around the side
And now off to visit Oliver Cromwells house

How cute is this one ?

I forgot to take a photo of the house!!!! Duh!!!!  It was a slightly bigger version of the little one above

Kitchen fire place where the cooking happened

An example of what Mrs Cromwell would 
Cook

Eel stew anyone??


Helmets and a hat from the war 

What every soldier carried with him

Another old building down the street, we are off to the car now have to move it as our time is up, we found a free car park which is most unusual here.....we are going to try and find a pub by the river.
Mmmmmmm.....there is the cathedral way over there......




Well we have crossed the river and the cathedral is over there....I think we are heading the wrong way....but I do  not want to be the back seat driver....not yet  anyway!!

We finally turned back and went down a really narrow windy road and found the pub

And the river with the canal boats....maybe it's a canal not a river?? 😉

The Cutter Inn...lunch time...yep it is 2.20pm!!

David and Carol settle in

David had a cheese and pickle sandwich....the man at the next table offered me his black Labrador,  but when I said "Yes thankyou" he changed his mind and said I think from your voice you have to take him too far!! I said I didn't mind but he changed his mind!! Lol!!

Very restful looking place.
Off home to, Carols at Ramsay now for a rest, this being a tourist is hard work!!
We have nipped over the back fence at Carol's to have a look at the Mortuary Chapel, only two exist in the UK now, this one is locked up for the winter, apparently you could view your loved one who had died from an infectious disease through a glass window here before they were buried.

Lovely rose hips

So e strange fungus growing in the grass

Beautiful detail on a grave stone

Chapel from the cemetry
Gatehouse at the chapel


In Carol's garden
Ok enough for one day
Bye for now









6 comments:

  1. Hi Sue ,wow Thankyou for sharing,I found your post very interesting,Thankyou for sharing.xx

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  2. what wonderful photos x SO much inspiration there for when you get home x I think that strange fungus is a group of toadstools .. they are poisonous so best left alone xx glad you are continuing to enjoy your visit x

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  3. So much history and so many beautiful sights. What a wonderful opportunity for you both.

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  4. PS - the supervisor may not appreciate having to share his space with a new labrador pal. Maybe it is lucky the man changed his mind.

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  5. Enjoying your photos, they're lovely. Saw the gorgeous Cody dog today.

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