Ely Cathedral

M. and I popped over to Ely to visit the Cathedral and to have a look around town. It was a spur of the moment decision, but something I've been wanting to do for a while,

mainly to get an interior photo of the Lantern, the window-filled tower above the cathedral choir, which sits on the Octogon; an eight-pillared support for the lantern.
Originally, it was a standard square tower but it collapsed in 1322. In those days, people didn't think too much about firm foundations - Ely's are around 5 feet - and collapses were not uncommon. The new man in charge, Alan of Walsingham, decided to rebuild it as an octogon, having eight pillars to bear the weight of the tower instead of four. It's a unique and fantastic structure, the lantern made mainly of oak.

Ely Cathedral - the Octogon and Lantern are on the right.

The ceiling in the nave is unusual and fairly new - part of the nineteenth century restoration overseen by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Below is the lantern, taken on a previous visit. The panels open so that people can look down into the choir below.

We spent so much time in the cathedral that we never got around to really exploring the town, so we will have to go back at some stage.