Bishop ofEly
Bishopric
anglican
Arms of the Bishop of Ely:Gules, three ducal coronets or[1]
Incumbent: vacant (acting: theBishop of Huntingdon)
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Canterbury
Residence	Bishop's House, Ely(since 1941) Bishop's Palace, Ely(15th century – 1941)
Information
First holder	Hervey le Breton
Established	1109
Diocese	Ely
Cathedral	Ely Cathedral

TheBishop of Ely is theordinary of theChurch of EnglandDiocese of Ely in theProvince of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county ofCambridgeshire (with the exception of theSoke of Peterborough), together with a section of north-westNorfolk and has itsepiscopal see in theCity of Ely,Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at theCathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. The diocesan bishops resided at theBishop's Palace, Ely until 1941;^[2] they now reside in Bishop's House, the former cathedral deanery.

The roots of the Diocese of Ely are ancient and the area of Ely was part of the patrimony ofSaint Etheldreda. Prior to the elevation of Ely Cathedral as the seat of the diocese, it existed as first as aconvent of religious sisters and later as a monastery. It was led by first by anabbess and later by anabbot. The convent was founded in the city in 673. After St Etheldreda's death in 679 she was buried outside the church. Her remains were later translated inside, the foundress being commemorated as a great Anglicansaint. The monastery, and much of the city of Ely, were destroyed in the Danish invasions that began in 869 or 870. A newBenedictine monastery was built and endowed on the site by SaintAthelwold,Bishop of Winchester, in 970, in a wave of monastic refoundations which also includedPeterborough andRamsey.^[3] In theDomesday Book in 1086, the Abbot of Ely is referenced as a landholder ofFoxehola. The abbey became a cathedral in 1109, after a new Diocese of Ely was created out of land taken from theDiocese of Lincoln. From that time the line of bishops begins.

The earliest historical notice of Ely is given by theVenerable Bede who writes (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, IV, xix):

Ely is in theprovince of the East Angles, a country of about six hundred families, in the nature of an island, enclosed either with marshes or waters, and therefore it has its name from the great abundance of eels which are taken in those marshes.

This district was assigned in 649 to saintÆthelthryth, daughter ofAnna, king of the East Angles, as a dowry in her marriage with Tonbert of the South Girvii. After her second marriage toEcgfrith of Northumbria, she became a nun, and in 673 returned to Ely and founded a monastery on the site of the present cathedral. As endowment she gave it her entire principality of the isle, from which subsequent Bishops of Ely derived their temporal power. Æthelthryth died in 679 and her shrine became a place of pilgrimage. In 870 the monastery was destroyed by the Danes, having already given to the Church four sainted abbesses, Æthelthryth and her sisterSeaxburgh, the latter's daughterErmenilda, and Ermenilda's daughterWerburgh. Probably under their rule there was a community of monks as well as a convent of nuns, but when in 970 the monastery was restored by King Edgar and Ethelwold it was a foundation for monks only.

For more than a century the monastery flourished, and about the year 1105 Abbot Richard suggested the creation of the See of Ely, to relieve the enormousDiocese of Lincoln. The pope's brief erecting the new bishopric was issued 21 November 1108, and on 17 October 1109King Henry I granted his charter, the first bishop beingHervé le Breton, or Harvey (1109–1131), formerBishop of Bangor. The monastery church thus became one of the "conventual" cathedrals. Of this building the transepts and two bays of the nave already existed, and in 1170 the nave as it stands to-day (a complete and perfect specimen of late Norman work) was finished. As the bishops succeeded to the principality of St Etheldreda they enjoyed palatine power and great resources.

The Bishops of Ely frequently held high office in the State and the roll includes many names of famous statesmen, including eightLord Chancellors and sixLord Treasurers. The Bishops of Ely spent much of their wealth on their cathedral, with the result that Ely can show examples of Gothic architecture of many periods. Another of the Bishop’s Palaces was inWisbech on the site of the formerWisbech Castle. Thurloe's mansion which replaced it was allowed to fall into disrepair and sold toJoseph Medworth.They also had a London residence calledEly Place.

Among the bishopsGeoffry Riddell (1174–1189) built the nave and began the west tower, Eustace (1198–1215) the West Porch, while Hugh de Northwold (1229–1254) rebuilt the Norman choir and John Hotham (1316–1337) rebuilt the collapsed central tower – the famous Octagon.Hugh (or Hugo) de Balsham (1258–1286) foundedPeterhouse, the first college at theUniversity of Cambridge, while John Alcock (1486–1500) was the founder ofJesus College and completed the building of the bishop's palace at Wisbech, commenced in 1478 by his predecessorJohn Morton later Archbishop of Canterbury.

Goodrich was a reformer and during his episcopate the monastery was dissolved. The last bishop in communion with the see of Rome was Thomas Thirlby. Since the Reformation, notable bishops have includedLancelot Andrewes,Matthew Wren,Peter Gunning andSimon Patrick who, in 1695 gave the Shambles estate in Wisbech, to provide clothing for the poor.^[4]

• Etheldreda (673–679)
• Seaxburh (sister of Etheldreda; 679–c.699)
• Ermenilda (daughter of Seaxburh andEorcenberht of Kent;c.699–c.700)
• Werburh (bornc.675, daughter of Ermenilda andWulfhere of Mercia)
• ?

• Brythnoth (970–996/999)
• Ælfsige (996/999–1016)
• Leofwine (1019–1022, 1022–1023)
• Leofric (1022, 1023–1029)
• Leofsige (1029–1044)
• Wulfric (1044 or 1045–1066)
• Thurstan (–1072) – the last Saxon abbot
• Theodwin (secular governor)
• Godfrey (secular governor)
• Simeon (1082–1094) – began building the cathedral
• Ranulf Flambard (as custodian 1093–1100)
• Richard FitzRichardde Clare (1100–1107) – the last abbot
• Hervey, Bishop of Bangor (as custodian 1107–1109)

From then on, Ely was under the Bishop of Ely.

Pre-Reformation Bishops of Ely
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1109	1131	Hervey le Breton	Translated fromBangor.
1133	1169	Nigel
1174	1189	Geoffrey Ridel
1189	1197	William Longchamp
1198	1215	Eustace
1215	1219	Robert of York	Election quashed 1219.
1220	1225	John of Fountains
1225	1228	Geoffrey de Burgh
1229	1254	Hugh of Northwold
1255	1256	William of Kilkenny
1258	1286	Hugh de Balsham
1286	1290	John Kirkby
1290	1298	William of Louth
1298	1299	John Salmon	Monks' candidate; opposed Langton; election quashed.
1298	1299	John Langton	King's candidate; opposed Salmon; election quashed.
1299	1302	Ralph Walpole	Translated fromNorwich.
1302	1310	Robert Orford
1310	1316	John Ketton
1316	1337	John Hotham
1337	1345	Simon Montacute	Translated fromWorcester.
1345	1361	Thomas de Lisle
1362	1366	Simon Langham	Translated toCanterbury.
1367	1373	John Barnet
1374	1388	Thomas Arundel	Translated toYork.
1388	1425	John Fordham	Translated fromDurham.
1426	1438	Philip Morgan	Translated fromWorcester.
1438	1443	Lewis of Luxembourg	Archbishop of Rouen. Held Elyin commendam.
1444	1454	Thomas Bourchier	Translated toCanterbury.
1454	1478	William Grey
1479	1486	John Morton	Translated toCanterbury.
1486	1500	John Alcock	Translated fromWorcester.
1501	1505	Richard Redman	Translated fromExeter.
1506	1515	James Stanley
1515	1533	Nicholas West
Source(s):[5][6][7][8][9]

Bishops of Ely during the Reformation
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1534	1554	Thomas Goodrich	Also recorded as Thomas Goodricke.
1554	1559	Thomas Thirlby	Translated fromNorwich; deprived on 5 July 1559.
Source(s):[5][8][9][10]

Post-Reformation Bishops of Ely
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1559	1581	Richard Cox
1581	1600	See vacant
1600	1609	Martin Heton
1609	1619	Lancelot Andrewes	Translated fromChichester; translated toWinchester.
1619	1628	Nicholas Felton	Translated fromBristol.
1628	1631	John Buckeridge	Translated fromRochester.
1631	1638	Francis White	Translated fromNorwich.
1638	1646	Matthew Wren	Translated fromNorwich; deprived of the see when the English episcopacy was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646.
1646	1660	The see was abolished during theCommonwealth and theProtectorate.[11][12]
1660	1667	Matthew Wren	Restored; died in office.
1667	1675	Benjamin Lany	Translated fromLincoln.
1675	1684	Peter Gunning	Translated fromChichester.
1684	1691	Francis Turner	Translated fromRochester.
1691	1707	Simon Patrick	Translated fromChichester.
1707	1714	John Moore	Translated fromNorwich.
1714	1723	William Fleetwood	Translated fromSt Asaph.
1723	1738	Thomas Green	Translated fromNorwich.
1738	1748	Robert Butts	Translated fromNorwich.
1748	1754	Thomas Gooch	Translated fromNorwich.
1754	1771	Matthias Mawson	Translated fromChichester.
1771	1781	Edmund Keene	Translated fromChester.
1781	1808	James Yorke	Translated fromGloucester.
1808	1812	Thomas Dampier	Translated fromRochester.
1812	1836	Bowyer Sparke	Translated fromChester.
1836	1845	Joseph Allen	Translated fromBristol.
1845	1864	Thomas Turton
1864	1873	Harold Browne	Translated toWinchester.
1873	1885	James Woodford
1886	1905	Lord Alwyne Compton
1905	1924	Frederic Chase
1924	1933	Leonard White-Thomson
1934	1941	Bernard Heywood	Translated fromHull.
1941	1957	Edward Wynn
1957	1964	Noel Hudson	Translated fromNewcastle.
1964	1977	Edward Roberts	Translated fromKensington.
1977	1990	Peter Walker	Translated fromDorchester.
1990	2000	Stephen Sykes	Returned to academia
2000	2010	Anthony Russell	Translated fromDorchester.
2010	2023	Stephen Conway	Translated fromRamsbury; translated toLincoln[13]
2023	acting	Dagmar Winter,Bishop of Huntingdon	Acting diocesan bishop during the vacancy in See.[14]
Source(s):[5][9][15]

Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been:

• 1907–1914:Noel Hodges, Rector of St Cuthbert's,Bedford; alsoArchdeacon of Bedford from 1910 (formerBishop of Travancore and Cochin andAssistant Bishop of Durham; laterof St Albans)^[16]
• 1919 – 1941 (d.):Horace Price,Archdeacon of Ely, Vicar ofPampisford (until 1921) andCanon Residentiary ofEly Cathedral (from 1921); formerBishop in Fukien^[17]
• 1942 – 1971 (d.):Gordon Walsh,Canon Residentiary ofEly Cathedral (until 1967), Vice-Dean of Ely (1956–1967) and formerBishop of Hokkaido^[18]

• Lands and Liberties of the Church at Ely

• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986).Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
• Greenway, D. E. (1971)."Bishops of Ely".Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces).Institute of Historical Research.
• Jones, B. (1962)."Bishops of Ely".Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541. Vol. 4: Monastic Cathedrals (Southern Province). Institute of Historical Research.
• Horn, J. M. (1996)."Bishops of Ely".Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857. Vol. 7: Ely, Norwich, Westminster and Worcester Dioceses. Institute of Historical Research.

Peter Meadows, ed.,Ely: Diocese and Bishops, 1109-2009 (The Boydell Press, 2010).

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