You might recognize Ely Cathedral from the big screen. In the 2010 movie "The King's Speech," the inside of the cathedral was transformed into the interior of Westminster Abbey to such effect that we awarded the film our own Budget Travel Oscar for inspiring a desire to travel to England. The church has also had cameos in 2008's "The Other Boleyn Girl" and the 1998 film "Elizabeth." The history of the Ely Cathedral is fascinating enough for Hollywood in its own right.
The foundations for this spectacular stone church, set amid poppy fields in the countryside outside of Cambridge, were laid by Benedictine monks in the 11th century. But for hundreds of years prior, the site lured religious pilgrims to visit the shrine of Etheldreda, a Saxon princess who left her husband to pursue a religious life. Etheldreda established a monastery here in the 7th century and is said to have planted a staff in the ground that then blossomed into a tree overnight a miracle that led people to believe she was a saint.
For hundreds of years after, pilgrims made their way to a shrine to Etheldreda inside the cathedral; a plaque now marks where the shrine once stood. Today, the church is best known as a shining example of Norman architecture, marking the Romanesque style's arrival in Britain (the cathedral's nave and south transept are considered perfect Norman examples).
