Ely

Ely (/ˈiːli/ EE-lee) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies 14 miles (23 km) north-east of Cambridge, 24 miles (39 km) south-east of Peterborough, and 80 miles (130 km) from London. As well as the built up area itself, the parish also covers surrounding rural areas including the settlements of Chettisham, Prickwillow, Mile End, Queen Adelaide, and Stuntney. At the 2021 census the built up area had a population of 19,185 and the parish had a population of 20,574.

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 an island separated from the mainland. Major rivers including the Witham, Welland, Nene and Great Ouse feed into 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.