Ely No. 1

There are two entries for Ely in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL5480/ely/] [accessed 11 April 2016], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. The Victoria County History (Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, vol. 4, 2002) notes: "Presumably there was originally but a single parish, whose spiritual needs were adequately met by use of a part of the abbey church. [...] The chapel of the Holy Cross, in the mother church, was so used before the division of the monastic property between bishop and prior in 1109. Even at this date, however, there existed the second parish of St. Mary: a specific grant of its church was then made to the convent. [...] The church of St. Mary was apparently rebuilt and endowed by Bishop Eustace (1198-1215)." The VCH (ibid.) shows a plan of the church interior with a font showing at the west end of the south arcade of the nave, just shy of the tower, but the VCH notes: "In the churchyard is the bowl of an ancient font of Barnack stone, of irregular shape." Described in the Parish's web site [www.ely.org.uk/marys.htm] on notes from Bernard E. Dorman's 'The Story of Ely and its Cathedral': "In the churchyard, to the south of the church [St. Mary's], are the remains of an old Norman font [...] The font bears an inscription in Latin to the effect that in future it shall receive only the water from Heaven". [NB: although the church is mostly of the Transitional period, there is evidence that a previous church existed here, before it was rebuilt by "Bishop Eustace, who held the see from 1197 till 1215" [ibid.]; there is no indication in the source whether the font was part of that rebuilding, or a furnishing of the earlier church]. [Not mentioned in Pevsner (1970)]. A modern font is noted in the Cambrigeshire Churches (2005) web site [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/elymary.htm] [accessed 25 October 2007]: "modern font. It is made of Purbeck marble, and is very severe. The bowl is square, and each face is decorated by three trefoil arches shallowly carved into the stone, though the shapes are almost more like warding figures than simple arches" [NB: this late font not listed in BSI on account of its date]. [We are grateful to Ben Colburn and Mark Ynys-Mon, of Cambridgeshire Churches, for the information on, and photographs of this church]