Cathedral property

The Cathedral Chapter owns most (but not all) of the buildings which were originally part of the monastic complex, now within the Cathedral precinct. At Ely, the precinct is also known as The College.

We also own three properties that are very close to the precinct, but are technically not part of it.

The Cathedral Chapter owns open land near the Cathedral.

Otherwise, we do not own land or buildings in Ely or elsewhere. There are rumours that the Cathedral owns the entire High Street or other parts of Ely, but these rumours are not true.

Which places of worship is the Cathedral Chapter responsible for?

We are responsible for the care and maintenance of the Cathedral Church building itself and Prior Crauden's Chapel.

Any responsibility that the Cathedral has for maintaining the parts of parish churches where the high altar is located ('chancel repair liability') is now met instead by the Church Commissioners for England.

What land does Ely Cathedral own?

We own some open land very close to the Cathedral, within the City of Ely. We make many of these areas available for public use during daylight.

• Cross Green: a former burial ground immediately to the north of the Cathedral. The local authority is legally responsible for maintaining the space because it is a former burial ground. We own and manage it.
• The East Lawn.
• The Almonry Gardens.
• Cherry Hill: the site of a Norman castle keep, now a scheduled monument.
• Cherry Hill Park: leased to East Cambridgeshire District Council, which maintains it as a park open to the public.
• The Dean's Meadow: managed to preserve the parkland setting of the Cathedral, and used to graze cattle.
• The Dean's Paddock, on which we have planted some local varieties of fruit trees.

We do not own Palace Green, nor any other land in Ely or elsewhere.

We manage all of our land in an environmentally-responsible way, in line with our land management plan.

What other buildings does Ely Cathedral own?

Within the Cathedral precinct, we own most of the buildings that look as though they've been around for a very long time. These include:

• The Almonry and North Range buildings facing onto the High Street (home to the Almonry Kitchen, Odyssey Games, Cow on the Ice, Octagon Dance Studios, the Eel Catcher's Daughter, Victoria's Cheese and residential tenants).
• The group of buildings immediately to the south-east of the Cathedral on the site of the monastic infirmary: the Deanery, Chapter House, Powcher's Hall and the Black Hostelry - all in use by the Cathedral; plus Walsingham/ Choir House and The Sixth Canonry/ Canonry House - leased to King's Ely.
• Buildings immediately to the south of the western part of the Cathedral: the Queen's Hall and Priory House - leased to King's Ely.
• The Monastic Barn and a classroom block immediately to its south - leased to King's Ely.
• Part of the Porta gateway (most of it is owned outright by King's Ely).

We also own modern buildings in the Cathedral precinct: Bishop Wynn Close and Whitgift House.

We own neither the Bishop's House and gardens, the former Bishop's Palace, nor the buildings facing onto the Gallery (except for the Queen's Hall).

Finally, we own three properties that are technically not part of the Cathedral precinct:

• The Cathedral Centre (formerly a library) on the northern side of Palace Green.
• The Steeplegate building (leased to Julia's Tea Rooms).
• A building that faces partly onto the High Street (leased until very recently to Price Bailey, and also to DEMAT, Page Medical and Inheritance Wills) and partly onto Cross Green/ Minster Place (leased to Nicholas Hythe Kitchens). We call this building the Grace Building.

We try hard to choose local, independent businesses as commercial tenants. We hope that all of our commercial tenants contribute to Ely being a thriving place for locals and visitors alike. Sometimes this means we take time to find suitable new tenants when an existing tenant leaves. We judge that this is in the best long-term interests of both the Cathedral and the City of Ely.

A plan of all the land and buildings owned by the Cathedral is available for download below.