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100-563: Founded as part of the Free Library in 1855, it is the county's reference Local Studies collection. In 1975 it moved into Lion Yard, Cambridge where it is located on the third floor of Cambridge Central Library. The Cambridgeshire Collection is a reference collection of mainly secondary (printed and published) material; primary documents (original, manuscript) being held in the County Archives at Ely and Huntingdon . Formerly,

200-406: A palaeontologically significant Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) one mile (1.6 km) northeast of the city. The Jurassic Kimmeridge Clays were quarried in the 19th and 20th centuries for the production of pottery and for maintenance of river embankments. Many specimens of ammonites , belemnites and bivalves were found during quarrying, in addition to an almost complete specimen of

300-465: A pliosaur . There is some scattered evidence of Late Mesolithic to Bronze Age activity in Ely such as Neolithic flint tools, a Bronze Age axe and spearhead. There is slightly denser Iron Age and Roman activity with some evidence of at least seasonal occupation. For example, a possible farmstead, of the late Iron Age to early Roman period, was discovered at West Fen Road and some Roman pottery

400-556: A "heavy iron traversing slide" known as 'Systeme Venglov 1853'. The Ely Rifle Volunteers , formed in 1860, became part of the Cambridgeshire Regiment during 1914–1918 then subsequently part of the Royal Anglian Regiment until disbanded in 1999. Turnpike trust Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament , with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining

500-518: A building material. Ampthill Clay was dug from the local area for the maintenance of river banks and Kimmeridge Clay at Roswell Pits for the making of pottery wares. In general, from a geological perspective, "The district is almost entirely agricultural and has always been so. The only mineral worked at the present time is gravel for aggregate, although chalk, brick clay (Ampthill and Kimmeridge clays), phosphate (from Woburn Sands, Gault and Cambridge Greensand), sand and gravel, and peat have been worked on

600-415: A coach pulled by four horses, a penny for an unladen horse and ten pence for a drove of 20 cows. The trustees could call on a portion of the statute duty from the parishes, either as labour or by a cash payment. The trust applied the income to pay for labour and materials to maintain the road. They were also able to mortgage future tolls to raise loans for new structures and for more substantial improvements to

700-526: A disproportionate amount of damage to the road. The rate at which new trusts were created slowed in the early 19th century but the existing trusts were making major investments in highway improvement. The government had been directly involved in the building of military roads in Scotland following a rebellion in 1745, but the first national initiative was a scheme to aid communications with Ireland . Between 1815 and 1826 Thomas Telford undertook

800-714: A fifth of the roads in Britain; the majority being maintained by the parishes. A trust would typically be responsible for about 20 miles (32 km) of highway, although exceptions such as the Exeter Turnpike Trust controlled 147 miles (237 km) of roads radiating from the city. On the Bath Road for instance, a traveller from London to the head of the Thames Valley in Wiltshire would pass through

900-535: A hypothetical word *ġē , which is not recorded in isolation but thought by some to be related to the modern German word Gau , meaning "district". The theory is that the name then developed a vowel to become ēliġē , and was afterwards re-interpreted to mean "Eel Island". This essentially is the explanation accepted by Reaney, Ekwall, Mills and Watts. But difficulties remain. Bailey, in his discussion of ġē names, has pointed out that Ely would be anomalous if really from ēlġē "eel district", being remote from

1000-593: A large marina. Although now surrounded by land, the city is still known as the Isle of Ely. There are two Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the city: a former Kimmeridge Clay quarry, and one of the United Kingdom's best remaining examples of medieval ridge and furrow agriculture. The economy of the region is mainly agricultural. Before the Fens were drained, eel fishing was an important activity, from which

1100-598: A major reorganization of the existing trusts along the London to Holyhead Road , and the construction of large sections of new road to avoid hindrances, particularly in North Wales. By 1838 the turnpike trusts in England were collecting £1.5 million per year from leasing the collection of tolls but had a cumulative debt of £7 million, mainly as mortgages. Even at its greatest extent, the turnpike system only administered

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1200-475: A plaque recording this martyrdom event was erected on the northeast corner of Palace Green by the City of Ely Perspective. The plaque is located 2 inches from the pavement floor in an obscure, easily missed corner. Oliver Cromwell lived in Ely from 1636 to 1646 after inheriting St Mary's vicarage, a sixteenth-century property—now known as Oliver Cromwell's House — from his mother's brother, Sir Thomas Steward. It

1300-726: A rising volume of traffic, or in building new sections of road. During the first three decades of the 18th century, sections of the main radial roads into London were put under the control of individual turnpike trusts. The pace at which new turnpikes were created picked up in the 1750s as trusts were formed to maintain the cross-routes between the Great Roads radiating from London. Roads leading into some provincial towns, particularly in Western England, were put under single trusts and key roads in Wales were turnpiked. In South Wales,

1400-464: A salary'. He records that the number of debtors outnumbered the number of felons in the prison. On his way to a Midlands tour, John Byng visited Ely on 5 July 1790 staying at the Lamb Inn. In his diary he writes that "the town [Ely] is mean, to the extreme ... those withdrawn, their dependancies must decay". Recording in his Rural Rides on 25 March 1830, William Cobbett reports that "Ely

1500-532: A shame [the Bishop] does not see it better ordered and y buildings and streetes put in a better Condition. They are a slothful people and for little but y takeing Care of their Grounds and Cattle w is of vast advantage". Daniel Defoe, when writing in the Eastern Counties section of A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain (1722), went "to Ely, whose cathedral, standing in a level flat country,

1600-516: A small scale in the past". Phosphate nodules, referred to locally as coprolites , were dug in the area surrounding Ely between 1850 and 1890 for use as an agricultural fertiliser . This industry provided significant employment for the local labour force. One of the largest sugar beet factories in England was opened in Queen Adelaide , two miles (3 km) from the centre of Ely, in 1925. The factory closed in 1981, although sugar beet

1700-550: A trust was ended, there were often great celebrations as the gates were thrown open. The assets of the trust, such as tollhouses, gates and sections of surplus land beside the road were auctioned off to reduce the debt, and mortgagees were paid at whatever rate in the pound the funds would allow. The legacy of the turnpike trust is the network of roads that still form the framework of the main road system in Britain. In addition, many roadside features such as milestones and tollhouses have survived, despite no longer having any function in

1800-402: Is Cambridge. Additional local weather stations report periodic figures to the internet such as Weather Underground , Inc. The Domesday survey of 1086 revealed 110 households which were mainly rural. In 1251, a survey showed an increase to 345 households with the start of urban living although still largely rural. By the 1416 survey there were 457 occupied premises in the city and many of

1900-481: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ely, Cambridgeshire Ely ( / ˈ iː l i / EE -lee ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire , England, about 14 miles (23 km) north-northeast of Cambridge , 24 miles (39 km) south east of Peterborough and 80 miles (130 km) from London. As of

2000-464: Is at Brancaster . Little direct evidence of Roman occupation in Ely exists, although there are nearby Roman settlements such as those at Little Thetford and Stretham . A coach route, known to have existed in 1753 between Ely and Cambridge, was improved in 1769 as a turnpike (toll road). The present-day A10 closely follows this route. Ely railway station , built in 1845, is on the Fen Line and

2100-537: Is capped by Boulder Clay ; all local settlements, such as Stretham and Littleport , are on similar islands. These islands rise above the surrounding flat land which forms the largest plain of Britain from the Jurassic system of partly consolidated clays or muds. Kimmeridge Clay beds dipping gently west underlie the Lower Greensand of the area exposed, for example, about one mile (2 km) south of Ely in

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2200-509: Is now a railway hub, with lines north to King's Lynn , northwest to Peterborough , east to Norwich , southeast to Ipswich and south to Cambridge and London. Henry II granted the first annual fair, Saint Etheldreda 's (or Saint Audrey's) seven-day event, to the abbot and convent on 10 October 1189. The word "tawdry" originates from cheap lace sold at this fair. A weekly market has taken place in Ely Market Square since at least

2300-627: Is now a residential building, Tower Court. Two other former workhouses were the Haven Quayside for unmarried mothers and another on the site of what is now the Hereward Hall in Silver Street. The diaries of writers and journalists such as William Camden , Celia Fiennes , Daniel Defoe , John Byng and William Cobbett illustrate the decline of Ely after the 14th century plague and the 16th century reformation which led to

2400-448: Is possible to visit this house today. During this time Cromwell was a tax collector, though was also one of the governors of Thomas Parsons' Charity, which dates back to 1445 and was granted a Royal Charter by Charles I of England . The Charity still provides grants and housing to deserving local applicants. There was a form of early workhouse in 1687, perhaps at St Mary's, which may have been part of an arrangement made between

2500-458: Is seen far and wide ... that some of it is so antient, totters so much with every gust of wind, looks so like a decay, and seems so near it, that when ever it does fall, all that 'tis likely will be thought strange in it, will be, that it did not fall a hundred years sooner". The prison reformer John Howard visited Ely and described the conditions in The Gaol:- 'This gaol the property of

2600-518: Is still farmed locally. Pottery was made in Ely from the 12th century until 1860: records show around 80 people who classed their trade as potters. "Babylon ware" is the name given to pottery made in one area of Ely. This ware is thought to be so named because there were potters in an area cut off from the centre by the re-routing of the River Great Ouse around 1200; by the seventeenth century this area had become known as Babylon. Although

2700-535: Is the largest collection of medieval buildings still in daily use in this country". The abbey at Ely was one of many which were refounded in the Benedictine reforms of King Edgar the Peaceful (943–975). The "special and peculiarly ancient" honour and freedoms given to Ely by charter at that time may have been intended to award only fiscal privilege, but have been interpreted to confer on subsequent bishops

2800-526: Is the site of Ely Castle which is of Norman construction and is a United Kingdom scheduled monument . Of similar construction to Cambridge Castle , the 250-foot (76 m) diameter, 40 feet (12 m) high citadel-type motte and bailey is thought to be a royal defence built by William the Conqueror following submission of the Isle from rebels such as the Earl Morcar and the folk-hero Hereward

2900-566: Is what one may call a miserable little town: very prettily situated, but poor and mean. Everything seems to be on the decline, as, indeed, is the case everywhere, where the clergy are the masters". The Ely and Littleport riots occurred between 22 and 24 May 1816. At the Special Commission assizes, held at Ely between 17 and 22 June 1816, twenty-four rioters were condemned. Nineteen had their sentences variously commuted from penal transportation for life to twelve-months imprisonment;

3000-509: The 2021 census , Ely is recorded as having a population of 19,200 (rounded to the nearest 100). Ely is built on a 23-square-mile (60 km ) Kimmeridge Clay island which, at 85 feet (26 m), is the highest land in the Fens . It was due to this topography that Ely was not waterlogged like the surrounding Fenland, and was an island separated from the mainland. Major rivers including the Witham , Welland , Nene and Great Ouse feed into

3100-597: The British Empire (Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa) and in the United States. Turnpikes declined with the coming of the railways and then the Local Government Act 1888 gave responsibility for maintaining main roads to county councils and county borough councils. The term "turnpike" originates from the similarity of the gate used to control access to

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3200-559: The Cambridgeshire County Council the city returns two councillors. The city was governed by a local board from 1850 until 1894, when it became the City of Ely Urban District Council , which then operated from 1894 to 1974. The Isle of Ely County Council governed the Isle of Ely administrative county that surrounding and included the city from 1889 to 1965. In 1965 there was a reform of local government that merged

3300-542: The Municipality of Esbjerg ; officials from Ribe first came to Ely in 1957. The golden anniversary of this twinning was celebrated in 2006. Exchange visits occur roughly every two years. The city of Ely has several visitor attractions, including The Stained Glass Museum, the only museum dedicated to stained glass in the UK. The Stained Glass Museum is located inside Ely Cathedral and has a collection of stained glass from

3400-558: The Roswell Pits . The Lower Greensand is partly capped by glacial deposits forming the highest point in East Cambridgeshire , rising to 85 feet (26 m) above sea level in Ely. The low-lying fens surrounding the island of Ely were formed, prior to the 17th century, by alternate fresh-water and sea-water incursions. Major rivers in the region, including the Witham , Welland , Nene and Great Ouse , drain an area of some 6,000 square miles (16,000 km )—five times larger than

3500-694: The Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Ely's local radio stations are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on 96.0 FM, Heart East on 103.0 FM and Star Radio on 107.1. Local newspapers are the Ely Standard and Cambridge News . A cannon, captured during the Crimean War at the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) and given to Ely by Queen Victoria in 1860, is located on Palace Green, west of the cathedral. The inscription reads "Russian cannon captured during

3600-554: The dissolution of the monastery in 1539. In the 1607 edition of Britannia , chorographic surveyor William Camden records that "as for Ely it selfe, it is no small Citie, or greatly to be counted off either for beauty or frequency and resort, as having an unwholsome aire by reason of the fens round about". In 1698, Celia Fiennes was writing "the Bishop [ Simon Patrick ] does not Care to stay long in this place not being for his health ... they have lost their Charter ... and its

3700-791: The smallest cities in England ; although the population has increased noticeably since 1991 when it was recorded at 11,291. Its urban area brings Ely into the ten of smallest sized cities (1.84 sq mi—4.77 km ), but by city council area it is much larger in coverage (22.86 sq mi—59.21 km ) than many others. For elections to the UK Parliament, Ely is part of the Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency. There are three tiers of local government covering Ely, at parish (city), district, and county level: City of Ely Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council , and Cambridgeshire County Council . Regular elections take place to

3800-543: The 13th century to the present day. Ely Museum, housed in the old city gaol, is a local history museum which tells the story of Ely and the surrounding Fens from pre-historic times to the present day. Oliver Cromwell's House is the former family home of Oliver Cromwell , and houses an exhibition about Cromwell and the English Civil War . Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia . The city receives its television signals from

3900-601: The 13th century. Markets are now held on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with a farmers' market on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. Present-day annual events include the Eel Festival in May, established in 2004, and a fireworks display in Ely Park, first staged in 1974. The city of Ely has been twinned with Denmark's oldest town, Ribe , since 1956. Ely City Football Club was formed in 1885. Roswell Pits are

4000-467: The 14th century. These grants were made by letters patent , almost invariably for a limited term, presumably the time likely to be required to pay for the required works. Tudor statutes had placed responsibility on each parish vestry to maintain all its roads. This arrangement was adequate for roads that the parishioners used themselves but proved unsatisfactory for the principal highways that were used by long-distance travellers and waggoners. During

4100-399: The 17th century, the piecemeal approach to road maintenance caused acute problems on the main routes into London. As trade increased, the growing numbers of heavy carts and carriages led to serious deterioration in the state of these roads and this could not be remedied by the use of parish statute labour. A parliamentary bill was tabled in 1621/22 to relieve the parishes responsible for part of

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4200-625: The 1870s it was feasible for Parliament to close the trusts progressively without leaving an unacceptable financial burden on local communities. From 1871, all applications for renewal were sent to the Turnpike Trust Commission. This arranged for existing acts to continue, but with the objective of discharging the debt, and returning the roads to local administration, which was by then by highway boards . The Local Government Act 1888 gave responsibility for maintaining main roads to county councils and county borough councils. When

4300-504: The A5) in the 1820s reduced the journey time of the London mail coach from 45 hours to just 27 hours, and the best mail coach speeds rose from 5-6 mph (8–10 km/h) to 9-10 mph (14–16 km/h). McAdam and his sons were employed as general surveyors (consultant engineers) to many of the main turnpike trusts in southern England. They recommended the building of new sections of road to avoid obstructions, eased steep slopes and directed

4400-600: The City of Ely Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council. The civil parish is divided into four wards called Ely North, Ely South, Ely East and Ely West. Fourteen councillors are elected to the parish council. The East Cambridgeshire District Council is also based in Ely. For elections to the East Cambridgeshire District Council the four wards of Ely South, Ely East and Ely West each return two district councillors; and Ely North returns three. For elections to

4500-725: The Crimean War presented to the people of Ely by Queen Victoria in 1860 to mark the creation of the Ely Rifle Volunteers". The cannon was cast at the Alexandrovski factory in 1802, the factory's director being the Englishman, Charles Gascoigne . The serial number is 8726. The calibre is 30 pounds (14 kg) and the weight is 252 poods , or about 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg). The cannon is mounted on an iron carriage which would previously have been mounted on

4600-533: The Ely people and a Nicholas Wythers of Norwich in 1675. He was paid £30 per annum to employ the poor to "spin jersey" and was to pay them in money not goods. A purpose-built workhouse was erected in 1725 for 35 inmates on what is now St Mary's Court. Four other workhouses existed, including Holy Trinity on Fore Hill for 80 inmates (1738–1956) and the Ely Union workhouse, built in 1837, which housed up to 300 inmates. The latter became Tower Hospital in 1948 and

4700-551: The English People , where he wrote Elge . This is apparently not a Latin name, and subsequent Latin texts nearly all used the forms Elia , Eli , or Heli with inorganic H- . In Old English charters, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the spelling is usually Elig . Skeat derived the name Ely from what he called "O[ld] Northumbrian " ēlġē , meaning "district of eels ". This uses

4800-424: The Fens and, until draining commenced in the eighteenth century, formed freshwater marshes and meres within which peat was laid down. Once the Fens were drained, this peat created a rich and fertile soil ideal for farming. The River Great Ouse was a significant means of transport until the Fens were drained and Ely ceased to be an island in the seventeenth century. The river is now a popular boating spot, and has

4900-554: The Great North Road by imposing a scale of tolls on various sorts of traffic. The toll revenue was to be used in repairing the road, however, the bill was defeated. During the following forty years, the idea of making travellers contribute to the repair of roads was raised on several occasions. Many parishes continued to struggle to find funds to repair major roads and in Hertfordshire , way wardens on behalf of

5000-458: The Wake . This would date the first building of the castle to c.  1070. Henry III of England granted a market to the Bishop of Ely using letters close on 9 April 1224 although Ely had been a trading centre prior to this. Present weekly market days are Thursday and Saturday and seasonal markets are held monthly on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from Easter to November. Following

5100-579: The abbot and convent on 10 October 1189. At this fair, cheap necklaces, made from brightly coloured silk, were sold—these were called "tawdry lace". "Tawdry", a corruption of "Saint Audrey", now means "pertaining to the nature of cheap and gaudy finery". Two other fairs, the 15‑day festival of St Lambert, first granted in 1312 and the 22‑day fair beginning on the Vigil of the Ascension , first granted in 1318. The festival of St Lambert had stopped by

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5200-540: The accession of Mary I of England to the throne in 1553, the papacy made its first effective efforts to enforce the Pope Paul III -initiated Catholic reforms in England. During this time, which became known as the Marian Persecutions , two men from Wisbech , constable William Wolsey and painter Robert Pygot, "were accused of not ... believing that the body and blood of Christ were present in

5300-479: The annual fireworks display in Ely Park, first staged in 1974. The Ely Folk Festival has been held in the city since 1985. The Ely Horticultural Society have been staging their Great Autumn Show since 1927. In 2018 Ely hosted the 'Pride' festival, celebrating LGBT and diversity. At the inaugural festival 'For The Hornets' headlined and the cathedral flew the pride rainbow flag. Since September 1956, Ely has been twinned with Ribe , Denmark's oldest town and part of

5400-474: The areas where possible examples of ġē names occur, and moreover, there is no parallel for the use of a fish-name in compounds with ġē . More seriously, the usual English spelling remains Elig , even in the dative case used after many prepositions, where Elige would be expected if the second element were īġ "island". This is in conflict with all the other island names which surround Ely. Problems also remain, as pointed out by historian Mac Dowdy, as

5500-591: The authority and power of a ruler. These rights were reconfirmed in charters granted by Edward the Confessor and in William the Conqueror 's confirmation of the old English liberty at Kenford. The Isle of Ely was mentioned in some statutes as a county palatine ; this provided an explanation of the bishop's royal privileges and judicial authority, which would normally belong to the sovereign; but legal authorities such as Sir Edward Coke did not completely endorse

5600-464: The bishop, who is lord of the franchise of the Isle of Ely, was in part rebuilt by the late bishop about ten years ago; upon complaint of the cruel method* which for want of a safe gaol, the Keeper took to secure his prisoners (*This was by chaining them down upon their backs on a floor, across which were several iron bars and iron collar with spikes about their neck). The gaoler John Allday did not receive

5700-486: The bread and wine of the sacrament of mass". For this Christian heresy they were condemned by the bishop's chancellor, John Fuller , on 9 October 1555. On 16 October 1555 they were burnt at the stake "probably on the Palace Green in front of Ely Cathedral". In The Book of Ely published in 1990, Blakeman writes that "permission was not given" for a memorial to the martyrs to be placed on Palace Green. In 2011,

5800-478: The cathedral its distinctive shape, earning it the moniker, "The Ship of the Fens". [2] Building continued until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 during the Reformation . The cathedral was sympathetically restored between 1845 and 1870 by the architect George Gilbert Scott . As the seat of a diocese , Ely has long been considered a city; in 1974, city status was granted by royal charter . Cherry Hill

5900-401: The collapse of the original nave crossing on 22 February 1322. Ely's octagon is considered "one of the wonders of the medieval world". Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner believes the octagon "is a delight from beginning to end for anyone who feels for space as strongly as for construction" and is the "greatest individual achievement of architectural genius at Ely Cathedral". This gave

6000-610: The county council with that of Cambridgeshire to form the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council . In 1974 as part of a national reform of local government, the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council merged with the Huntingdon and Peterborough County Council to form the Cambridgeshire County Council . The City of Ely Urban District Council became the City of Ely Council , a parish council which covers

6100-571: The eighteenth century. St Etheldreda's and the Vigil of the Ascension markets still continue, although the number of days have been considerably reduced and the dates have changed. Present-day annual events in Ely include Aquafest, which has been staged at the riverside by the Rotary Club on the first Sunday of July since 1978. Other events include the Eel Day carnival procession and

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6200-411: The existing highway. The trusts applied some funds to erecting tollhouses that accommodated the pikeman or toll-collector beside the turnpike gate. Although trusts initially organised the collection of tolls directly, it became common for them to auction a lease to collect tolls. Specialist toll-farmers would make a fixed payment to the trust for the lease and then organise the day-to-day collection of

6300-572: The fens continue to be drained to this day. With an average annual rainfall of 24 inches (600 mm), Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the British Isles . Protected from the cool onshore coastal breezes east of the region, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter. Regional weather forecasting and historical summaries are available from the UK Met Office . The nearest Met Office weather station

6400-417: The fens—into the basin that forms the fens. Defoe in 1774 described the Fens as "the sink of no less than thirteen Counties". On 23 November of that year, Church of England cleric and Christian theologician John Wesley , wrote of his approach to Ely after visiting Norwich: "about eight, Wednesday, 23, Mr. Dancer met me with a chaise [carriage] and carried me to Ely. Oh, what want of common sense! Water covered

6500-408: The flatness of the fens". In 1954, architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner wrote "as one approaches Ely on foot or on a bicycle, or perhaps in an open car, the cathedral dominates the picture for miles around ... and offers from everywhere an outline different from that of any other English cathedral". Local historian Pamela Blakeman reports a claim that "Grouped around [the cathedral] ...

6600-405: The form of words. These bishop's rights were not fully extinguished until 1837. As the seat of a diocese , Ely has long been considered a city, holding the status by ancient prescriptive right : the caption to John Speed 's 1610 plan of Ely reads "Although this Citie of Ely", and Aikin refers to Ely as a city in 1800. When Ely was given a Local Board of Health by Queen Victoria in 1850,

6700-451: The high road for a mile and a half. I asked, 'How must foot-people come to the town?' 'Why, they must wade through! ' " Peat formed in the fresh-water swamps and meres whilst silts were deposited by the slow-moving sea-water. Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford , supported by Parliament, financed the draining of the fens during the 17th century, led by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden ;

6800-425: The highway passed, augment this with tolls from users from outside the parishes and apply the whole to the maintenance of the main highway. This became the pattern for the turnpiking of a growing number of highways, sought by those who wished to improve flow of commerce through their part of a county. The proposal to turnpike a particular section of road was normally a local initiative and a separate Act of Parliament

6900-441: The highway. These officers were paid by the trust. Trustees were not paid, though they derived indirect benefits from the better transport, which improved access to markets and led to increases in rental income and trade. The first action of a new trust was to erect turnpike gates at which a fixed toll was charged. The Act gave a maximum toll allowable for each class of vehicle or animal – for instance one shilling and six pence for

7000-499: The jurisdiction of seven trusts, paying a toll at the gates of each. Although a few trusts built new bridges (e.g. at Shillingford over the Thames), most bridges remained a county responsibility. A few bridges were built with private funds and tolls taken at these (e.g., the present Swinford Toll Bridge over the Thames). The quality of early turnpike roads was varied. Although turnpiking did result in some improvement to each highway,

7100-576: The justices in other counties in England and Wales. An example is the first Turnpike Act for Surrey, the Surrey and Sussex Highways Act 1696 ( 8 & 9 Will. 3 . c. 15), during the reign of William III for enhanced repairs between Reigate in Surrey and Crawley in Sussex. The act made provision to erect turnpikes , and appoint toll collectors; also to appoint surveyors, who were authorized by order of

7200-477: The justices to borrow money at five per cent interest, on security of the tolls. The first scheme that had trustees who were not justices was established through a Turnpike Act in 1706 ( 6 Ann. c. 4) for a section of the London- Chester road between Fornhill (near Hockliffe ) and Stony Stratford . The basic principle was that the trustees would manage resources from the several parishes through which

7300-413: The local justices of the peace powers to erect toll-gates on a section of the road, between Wadesmill , Hertfordshire; Caxton , Cambridgeshire ; and Stilton , Huntingdonshire for 11 years, the revenues so raised to be used for the maintenance of the road in their jurisdictions ( 15 Cha. 2 . c. 1). The toll-gate erected at Wadesmill was the prototype in England. Parliament then gave similar powers to

7400-404: The money, leaving themselves with a profit on their operations over a year. The powers of a trust were limited, normally to 21 years, after which it was assumed that the responsibility for the now-improved road would be handed back to the parishes. However, trusts routinely sought new powers before this time limit, usually citing the need to pay off the debts incurred in repairing damage caused by

7500-552: The order creating the board said it was to cover the "city of Ely". The local board which governed the city from 1850 to 1894 called itself "City of Ely Local Board", and the urban district council which replaced it and governed the city from 1894 to 1974 similarly called itself "City of Ely Urban District Council". Ely's city status was not explicitly confirmed, however, until 1 April 1974 when Queen Elizabeth II granted letters patent , to its civil parish. Ely's population of 20,256 (as recorded in 2011) classifies it as one of

7600-458: The principal roads in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. At the peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts administered around 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of turnpike road in England and Wales, taking tolls at almost 8,000 toll-gates and side-bars. During the early 19th century the concept of the turnpike trust was adopted and adapted to manage roads within

7700-410: The reason for the name is unclear, by 1850 it was in official use on maps. The building of the Ely to King's Lynn railway in 1847 cut the area off even further, and the inhabitants could only cross to Ely by boat. Annual fairs have been held in Ely since the twelfth century. Saint Audrey's ( Etheldreda 's) seven-day fair, held either side of 23 June, was first granted officially by Henry I to

7800-650: The relaying of existing road-beds with carefully graded stones to create a dry, fast-running surface (known as Macadamising ). Coach design improved to take advantage of these better roads and in 1843 the London-to- Exeter mail coach could complete the 170-mile (270-km) journey in 17 hours. The introduction of toll gates had been resented by local communities which had freely used the routes for centuries. Early Acts had given magistrates powers to punish anyone damaging turnpike property, such as defacing milestones, breaking turnpike gates or avoiding tolls. Opposition

7900-401: The remaining five were executed on 28 June 1816. An outbreak of cholera isolated Ely in 1832. Ely Cathedral was "the first great cathedral to be thoroughly restored". Work commenced in 1845 and was completed nearly thirty years later; most of the work was "sympathetically" carried out by the architect George Gilbert Scott . The only pavement labyrinth to be found in an English cathedral

8000-471: The renewal acts for the earlier trusts incorporated a growing list of powers and responsibilities. The Kent Roads Act 1743 ( 17 Geo. 2 . c. 4), the Turnpike Roads Act 1766 ( 7 Geo. 3 . c. 40) and the Turnpike Roads Act 1773 ( 13 Geo. 3 . c. 84) made statutory provision for the erection of milestones along the turnpike roads indicating the distance between the main towns on the road. Users of

8100-632: The result was that toll gates were dismantled and the trusts abolished in the six counties of South Wales , their powers being transferred to a roads board for each county. These are incomplete lists of trusts by county. By the early Victorian period toll gates were perceived as an impediment to free trade. The multitude of small trusts were frequently charged with being inefficient in use of resources and potentially suffered from petty corruption. The railway era spelt disaster for most turnpike trusts. Although some trusts in districts not served by railways managed to increase revenue, most did not. In 1829,

8200-447: The road were obliged to follow what were to become rules of the road, such as driving on the left and not damaging the road surface. Trusts could take additional tolls during the summer to pay for watering the road in order to lay the dust thrown up by fast-moving vehicles. Parliament also passed a few general Turnpike Acts dealing with the administration of the trusts and restrictions on the width of wheels – narrow wheels were said to cause

8300-473: The road, to the barriers once used to defend against attack by cavalry (see cheval de frise ). The turnpike consisted of a row of pikes or bars, each sharpened at one end, and attached to horizontal members which were secured at one end to an upright pole or axle, which could be rotated to open or close the gate. Pavage grants, originally made for paving the marketplace or streets of towns, began also to be used for maintaining some roads between towns in

8400-614: The roads of complete counties were put under single turnpike trusts in the 1760s. A further surge of trust formation occurred in the 1770s, with the turnpiking of subsidiary connecting roads, routes over new bridges, new routes in the growing industrial areas and roads in Scotland . About 150 trusts were established by 1750; by 1772 a further 400 were established and, in 1800, there were over 700 trusts. In 1825 about 1,000 trusts controlled 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of road in England and Wales. The acts of Parliament for these new trusts and

8500-613: The same area but with fewer powers, and the East Cambridgeshire District Council which covers a wider area. The west of Cambridgeshire is made up of limestones from the Jurassic period, whilst the east Cambridgeshire area consists of Cretaceous (upper Mesozoic ) chalks known locally as clunch . In between these two major formations, the high ground forming the Isle of Ely is from a lower division Cretaceous system known as Lower Greensand which

8600-483: The service was part of the Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies , before these were split, with the archives eventually moving to their new home in 2019. The Collection is of use to family, local and social historians. 52°12′17″N 0°07′14″E  /  52.204742°N 0.120525°E  / 52.204742; 0.120525 This article about a Cambridgeshire building or structure

8700-427: The settlement's name may have been derived. Other important activities included wildfowling , peat extraction, and the harvesting of osier (willow) and sedge (rush). The city had been the centre of local pottery production for more than 700 years, including pottery known as Babylon ware. A Roman road , Akeman Street , passes through the city; the southern end is at Ermine Street near Wimpole and its northern end

8800-397: The streets were arranged much as they are today. See also the cartographer John Speed's plan of Ely, 1610. In 1563 there were 800 households and by 1753 the population was recorded as 3,000. As an island surrounded by marshes and meres, the fishing of eels was important as both a food and an income for the abbot and his nearby tenants. For example, to the abbot of Ely in 1086, Stuntenei

8900-537: The technologies used to deal with geological features, drainage, and the effects of weather, were all in their infancy. Road construction improved slowly, initially through the efforts of individual surveyors such as John Metcalf in Yorkshire in the 1760s. 19th-century engineers made great advances, notably Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam . The engineering work of Telford on the Holyhead Road (now

9000-442: The trees would be called 'a willow'. The city's origins lay in the foundation of an abbey in 673, one mile (1.6 km) to the north of the village of Cratendune on the Isle of Ely, under the protection of Saint Etheldreda , daughter of King Anna . St Etheldreda (also known as Æthelthryth ) was a queen, founder and abbess of Ely. She built a monastery in 673 AD, on the site of what is now Ely Cathedral . [1] This first abbey

9100-563: The vestries stood frequent trial at quarter sessions for their failure to keep the Old North Road in a good state of repair. In 1656 the parish of Radwell, Hertfordshire petitioned their local sessions for help to maintain their section of the Great North Road. Probably as a result judges on the Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire circuit represented the matter to Parliament, it then passed an act that gave

9200-414: The word eel (or similar) did not exist at the time of the founding of Ely, and they were instead referred to as aguilla or anguilles until the 1300s. Mac proposes that instead the city gets its name from the word "Elysium", later shortened to Ely. This is believed as Etheldreda 's chamberlain, Ovin, described it as "an ancient place of great spiritual importance to the people of the region, a paradise". This

9300-584: The year before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened, the Warrington and Lower Irlam Trust had receipts of £1,680 but, by 1834, this had fallen to £332. The Bolton and Blackburn Trust had an income of £3,998 in 1846, but in 1847 following the completion of a railway between the two towns, this had fallen to £3,077 and, in 1849, £1,185. The debts of many trusts became significant; forced mergers of solvent and debt-laden trusts became frequent, and by

9400-482: Was destroyed in 870 by Danish invaders and rededicated to Etheldreda in 970 by Ethelwold , Bishop of Winchester . The abbots of Ely then accumulated such wealth in the region that in the Domesday survey (1086) it was the "second richest monastery in England". The first Norman bishop, Simeon , started building the cathedral in 1083. The octagon was rebuilt by sacrist Alan of Walsingham between 1322 and 1328 after

9500-551: Was found close to the east end of the cathedral on The Paddock. There was a Roman settlement, including a tile kiln built over an earlier Iron Age settlement, in Little Thetford , three miles (5 km) to the south. The origin and meaning of Ely's name have always been deemed obscure by place-name scholars, and are still disputed. The earliest record of the name is in the Latin text of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of

9600-497: Was installed below the west tower in 1870. For over 800 years the cathedral and its associated buildings—built on an elevation 68 feet (21 m) above the nearby fens—have visually influenced the city and its surrounding area. Geographer John Jones, writing in 1924, reports that "from the roof of King's Chapel in Cambridge, on a clear day, Ely [cathedral] can be seen on the horizon, 16 miles (26 km) distant, an expression of

9700-522: Was later changed as Wilfrid 's chronicler used the Latin term for Paradise " Elysium ". Another option, discussed by Miller in Fenland Notes and Queries , is that the name is an old Celtic name deriving either from the Brythonic helig (modern Welsh helyg ) meaning willows or heli meaning salt water. Miller construes the name as meaning the singular and thinks it odd a place so abounding in

9800-506: Was particularly intense in mountainous regions where good routes were scarce. In Mid Wales in 1839, new tolls on old roads sparked protests known as the Rebecca Riots . There were sporadic outbursts of vandalism and violent confrontation by gangs of 50 to 100 or more local men, and gatekeepers were told that if they resisted they would be killed. In 1844, the ringleaders were caught and transported to Australia as convicts. However,

9900-416: Was required to create each trust. The Act gave the trustees responsibility for maintaining a specified part of the existing highway. It provided them with powers to achieve this; the right to collect tolls from those using the road was particularly important. Local gentlemen, clergy and merchants were nominated as trustees and they appointed a clerk, a treasurer and a surveyor to actually administer and maintain

10000-408: Was worth 24,000 eels, Litelport 17,000 eels and even the small village of Liteltetford was worth 3,250 eels. Prior to the extensive and largely successful drainage of the fens during the seventeenth century, Ely was a trade centre for goods made out of willow, reeds and rushes and wild fowling was a major local activity. Peat in the form of "turf" was used as a fuel and in the form of "moor" as

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