For centuries Ely was an island. The town stands on a low hill rising out of the Fens, the vast, flat wetland that once covered much of eastern England, and until the seventeenth century it could be reached only by causeways or by boat. Its name is thought to come from the eels that were caught in the surrounding waters and used to pay rents and taxes. After the Norman Conquest, the Saxon rebel Hereward the Wake held out here against William the Conqueror, using the marshes as a natural fortress.
Rising above the town is the cathedral, known as the Ship of the Fens, because from a distance it seems to float above the flat land like a ship at sea. Many people rate it the loveliest cathedral in England, and its most remarkable feature is the octagon, a vast lantern of wood and glass built after the central tower collapsed in 1322, a feat of medieval engineering that still astonishes visitors. Oliver Cromwell lived in Ely for some years before he rose to power, and his house is now a museum.
The Fens were drained in the seventeenth century by Dutch engineers, most famously Cornelius Vermuyden, who cut huge straight channels like the Old and New Bedford Rivers to carry the water to the sea. The result is some of the most fertile farmland in Britain, a landscape of black soil, enormous skies and straight roads stretching to the horizon. As the peat dried out, the land shrank, and many fields now lie below sea level.
That shrinking has consequences for riders. Fen roads are often built on peat, and they ripple, buckle and sag in unexpected ways, with sudden dips and bumps, and many run alongside deep drainage ditches with no barriers. Take them slowly, especially at night or in fog. Ely has plenty of cafés, pubs and restaurants around the cathedral and along the river, and benches along the river catch the afternoon sun. Fuel and other services are available in town.