England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ely Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Ely Holy Trinity comprises much of northeastern Cambridgeshire stretching from the cathedral city itself across to form a portion of the county's border with neighbouring Suffolk. Ely is cathedral city with Holy Trinity parish having its location within the Lady Chapel of the cathedral, itself. Ely is located roughly 16 miles north of the county town of Cambridge and, prior to the completion of its bypass, sits on the A10 road which links Cambridge with the Norfolk port of King's Lynn. Ely has ancient beginnings although its name is disputed as to its origins, theories state it derives from eels, an important foodstuff of the Fens or from the Saxon word for willows. Ely is first mentioned as early as the 7th century when the Anglo-Saxon chronicles records the foundation of its abbey. By Domesday times Ely was already an important settlement, one of the largest 20% recorded in that book and retained by its abbey. It was the Normans who began the construction of its great cathedral that makes it into one of the nation's smallest cities. Ely's location on an island within what was once inhospitable wetlands made it a base for rebellion and it is intrinsically linked with the revolt of Hereward the Wake suppressed by the Normans. In time Ely became a regional market for exchange of goods, mainly agricultural produce, the location of specialist trades, a minor port and the usual rural industries of malting, brewing & tanning. The wider parish, extending toward the Suffolk border, is intensely cultivated largely following reclamation of the former wetlands, besides cereals, beet & oil-seed a wide variety of vegetables is also grown and the odour of onion & leek is a feature. Modern developments arrived in an abundance of railways, the lines from both Norwich & Ipswich toward Peterborough meeting and crossing the King's Lynn to London line at Ely creating something of a railway traffic jam. Modern day Ely has expanded greatly from the single street it was once, the proximity of Cambridge and the excellent rail connections has made it a commuter base of choice for that crowded university town. For genealogists it also the newly created new home of Cambridgeshire Archives who have redeveloped a former 10-pin bowling alley into a state of the age archive. Ely is drained northwards by the Great Ouse, on the western banks of which it sits, reaching the North Sea through the port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Ely is sited at between sea level and 20 metres, the former island being no higher than 22 metres at its highest point is still the highest ground for many a mile. Acreage of the parish is difficult to determine, combined with St Mary and including the chapelry of Stuntney it amounts to over 16,700 acres, the lands of each of the twin parishes being intertwined as a series of reclamation allocations, the parish of Holy Trinity supported a population of just over 4,600 parishioners, a value swamped by today's population. As already mentioned Ely was large enough to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements recorded in Domesday Book, the lion's share being held by Ely Abbey with Count Gilbert's son Richard having a minor stake. Collectively their assets totalled an impressive 41 ploughs, some meadow but it was the 6 fisheries that powered Ely's wealth at the time.

The Church

The cathedral of the Holy & Undivided Trinity, to give it its fullest name, is the base of Holy Trinity parish with its Lady Chapel devoted to the parish ceremonies including these marriages. It is not for this summary to fully describe the cathedral, Pevsner's account runs for 35 pages of dense description of the exterior, interior & adornments and to summarise this would be an unforgiving task. Suffice it to say that this great building, one of the nation's finest cathedrals was begun in 1083 soon after the conquest. The Norman Romanesque work of the late 11th and 12th centuries began in typical fashion at the eastern end and by 1352 much was completed such that the altar could be dedicated at that date. The arrival of the Black Death formed a full stop in construction that only continued sporadically through the 14th & 15th centuries. A small disaster struck in the 15th century, too, when the northern arm of the western transept collapsed and was rebuilt. As an abbey church its fate at the dissolution was in doubt but conversion of the Lady Chapel as the parish church of Holy Trinity ensured its survival. A long series of restorations from the 18th into the 20th centuries kept the building fresh and prevented further disasters to leave the splendid apparition of The Fens we see today. Such is the building's dimensions and its low-lying location that it can be clearly seen on a clear day from the higher ground above Newmarket racecourse. some 17 miles away. Parking for the cathedral should be sought in one of the city's many car parks, a visit should dedicate at least a half if not a full day to fully appreciate this wonder of the medieval world.