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 miles 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.
Ely (pronounced ['iːli], as in the end of the word "freely") is a cathedralcity in East Cambridgeshire, East Anglia.
Ely has been known as a city since time immemorial, and this status was confirmed by Royal charter in 1974, at which time the city council was formed during a reorganisation of local government.
Ely railway station, situated on the Fen Line, is a major train hub with direct trains to Cambridge, London King's Cross, London Liverpool Street, Stansted Airport, King's Lynn, Ipswich, March, Peterborough, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Thetford and Norwich.
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