English Churches - Cambridgeshire
Ely Cathedral - Part 5
The North and South Transepts
Off the south transept is the Chapel of St Dunstan and St Ethelwold, who were refounded the Benedictine Monastery in Ely after Viking raids in the C9th.
The arches of the South transept are picked out with blue paint. The painting of the Angel releasing St Peter is C16th and was the reredos before being replaced by the present Gilbert Scott one. Below is the Tabula Eliensis, which hung in the monk’s refectory. It shows the Norman knights stationed with the monks after the defeat of Hereward the Wake. Below is an old strong chest.
St Edmund’s Chapel off the North transept has the remain of C14th Wall paintings, the only ones to survive in Ely. They originally showed scenes from the life of St Edmund, but only his martyrdom at the top of the north wall can be seen clearly. It shows him tied to a tree before being shot by arrows. Below, the wall is painted to imitate cloth wall hangings with stripes on the north wall and circles on the south wall.
Also in the north transept is St Etheldreda’s processional banner.
