Saturday, 21-10-23: photo heavy alert

 Good morning, everyone.
I hope all my UK readers are OK and not badly affected by yesterday's strong winds and very heavy rain.  I gather East Scotland was very badly hit and Suffolk also had more than its fair share, especially nearer the coast.
I gather the red alert continues through Saturday.  Worrying, indeed.

The Internet has sorted itself out for now round here so I can get some photos from Thursday with the usual disclaimer that I am far from a photographer, I have precious little sense of design and my camera is - er - basic.   😊

Ely Cathedral has a long, long history going right back to AD/CE 673 when St. Ethelreda (who happened to be a princess, I believe) built an abbey church.
This was destroyed by the Mercians and then restored as a Benedictine Community.
The present building dates back to 1086 and was given cathedral status in 1109.

It was not possible to get a complete photo; I'm sure it can be done with drones or moving back quite a lot but I was a bit pushed for time so this is the best I could do, sorry.  It in no way gives the scale of the building.

The outside is unashamedly Norman, big, domineering, powerful, imposing.

In 1322, the Normal central tower collapsed, fortunately at night so the church was not full.  When it was rebuilt, for stability reasons they found firmer foundations further out from the original pillars and the idea of an octagonal tower with an octagonal lantern on top was evolved using very advanced, original technological engineering (for the time).  Stone would have been too heavy to support a vault so they used wood covered in lead.

There have been three other major restorations, one in the 18th century, one in Victorian times and one in 1986 when it was found that roof, timber and stone works were becoming unstable.  £4,000,000 was raised to fund this and the work continues in an ongoing way.

The outside is very decorative in a Norman sort of way.  I'd have loved to have been able to just stroll around, taking time to just look.  Maybe, another time . . .

The Medieval building around the cathedral are still used today for staff, choir and for KIng's School (founded, I think, by Henry VIII)

There has been a choir school for boys since the 10th century and a girls' choir school since 2008.  Music in general continues to be a very, very important part of Cathedral life with some very big and important concerts being held in the main barea as well as more intimate, smaller scale performances in the Lady Chapel.  The acoustics are outstanding (said the guide).

This next lot of photos are poor and in no way convey the sense of space, colour and design, sorry.

 . . . especially this one!  The nave ceiling is stunning.  There are twelve panels, painted as part of the Victorian restoration and show the story of the ancestry of Jesus, starting with Adam and Eve through to Mary.

I've nicked - I mean borrowed - this next from the Ely Cathedral site because it shows detail and colour when it's properly lit.

Ditto for the Octagon tower which has been restored, of course.  The whole tower creates the most amazing space in the centre of the building - it's wonderful.
There were too many people for me to take any wider photos which is a shame.

From the same site, here's details of the inside of the Lantern.

It's not a particularly 'fussy' interior but there are some works of art, including some modern works commissioned from time to time.

This one is Jesus and Mary in the garden of Gethsemane

. . . but I have no idea who this is/was.  If you know, please do say in the comments.

Sadly, our group couldn't get into the Lady Chapel as it was in use.  Fair enough.

It was built at about the same time as the tower collapse and rebuilt and would originally have been highly colourful with statues and stained glass windows and so on.

However, after Cromwell's men had done their bit, there are only small hints of past glories.  Bits of paint, a few fragments of window and either empty pedestals where images had stood or faceless saints.
One grieves for past beauty.

On to the stained glass museum which was accesses via a stone circular staircase, in good order but not accessible if you had mobility issues so, sadly, a few of our group couldn't get up.

I'll just post a few random photos.  I particularly love the last one which may reappear in here nearer Christmas!
It was along a gallery so impossible to get back far enough to take a complete photo in most cases.

This is very long and photo heavy so I'll do a post about the afternoon for tomorrow.

I'd love to go back to Ely.  The Tudor house in this photo, taken with my back to the Cathedral; is Cromwell's House and I'd have loved to have looked around.  It was Cromwell's family home and the museum it contains looks so, so interesting.   

I think the building to the left is part of the King's School but I could be wrong there.

Anyway, see you tomorrow for the afternoon photos.  xx