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Cathedral of the Holy TrinityCathedral of the Holy Trinity · Photo: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
A−History Grade
History of Ely · Historic England

191 listed buildings, 25 of them Grade I

On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Ely’s built-up area, 100 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 3 scheduled monuments. We have photos of 33 of its listed buildings. 12% of its homes were built before 1919. Ely grades A− for history: #7 of 50 in Cambridgeshire.

25Grade I7Grade II*3scheduled monuments20on St Mary's Street
Listed buildings
191
100 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
25
exceptional interest
Grade II*
7
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
3
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
12%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures

Ely in 35 photos

Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Bishop's Palace Bishop's Palace (The Palace School)Bishop's Palace Bishop's Palace (The Palace School)Grade I listedCellarers House (Boarding House of King's School)Cellarers House (Boarding House of King's School)Grade I listedParsons' AlmshousesParsons' AlmshousesGrade II listedOld Fire Engine HouseOld Fire Engine HouseGrade II listedRoyal Standard Public HouseRoyal Standard Public HouseGrade II listed+30See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

The map

Where Ely’s history is

Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.

'Cherry Hill', castle mound, scheduled monumentEly Cathedral: claustral buildings, scheduled monumentHospital of St John the Baptist and St Mary Magdalene, St John's Farm, scheduled monumentHill House, Grade II*Nos. 16 and 18 High Street (including Steeple Gate), Grade II*Oliver Cromwell's House, Grade II*Sessions House, Grade II*The Chantry, Grade II*3 Palace Green, Grade II*41 and 41A, Broad Street, Grade II*Almonry, Sacrists Hall, Gate and Goldsmiths Tower the Almonry, Grade IAlmonry, Sacrists Hall, Gate and Goldsmiths Tower the Sacristy Gate and Goldsmith's Tower, Grade IBarn and Storehouse of the Monastery, Grade IBarn to south-west of St John's Farmhouse, Grade IBishop's Palace Bishop's Palace (The Palace School), Grade ICathedral of the Holy Trinity, Grade ICellarers House (Boarding House of King's School), Grade IDove house to St John's Farm, Grade IEly Porta, Grade IGuest Quarters of the Monastery, Grade IInfirmary hall to the north of St John's Farmhouse (formerly Barn to the north of St John's Farmhouse), Grade IParish Church of St Mary, Grade IPowcher's Hall, Grade IPrior Craudens Chapel, Grade IPrior's House (Boarding House of the Kings School), Grade ISt John's Farmhouse, Grade IStables to Bishop's Palace, Grade IThe Black Hostelry and Cellarers Chamber, Grade IThe Chapel of the Infirmary (Deanery), Grade IThe Dark Cloister, Grade IThe Great Hall (Bishop's residence), Grade IThe Painted Chamber (Walsingham House), Grade IThe Queen's Hall (Headmaster's House), Grade IWall to the Garden of the the Almonry and Painted Chamber, Grade IWalls to the Guest Quarters of the Monastery and Ely Porta, Grade I
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monument400 m from Ely Cathedral
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
21 of 25Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Ely Cathedral, a five-minute walk. So do 129 of the 191 listed buildings.
0 of 12neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 41% were built before 1919.

Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.

191 listed buildings by grade
25 Grade I7 Grade II*159 Grade II

Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).

Grade I

The 25 Grade I listed buildings in Ely

Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 21 of these stand within 400 m of Ely Cathedral. 23 are photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

Cathedral · listed 1950Ely CathedralOn the list as Cathedral of the Holy TrinityPhoto: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
House · listed 1950Ely PortaPhoto: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grade II*

The 7 Grade II* listed buildings in Ely

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.

Church · listed 1950The ChantryPhoto: BrianAnalogue · CC BY-SA 3.0
Historic streets

St Mary's Street has the most listed buildings

Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.

St Mary's Street20 listed
Waterside16 listed
Broad Street8 listed · 1 II*
41 and 41A, Broad Street
High Street7 listed
Fore Hill5 listed
St Marys Street5 listed
The Gallery5 listed
West End5 listed
Chapel Street4 listed
Quayside4 listed
Market Place3 listed
Market Street3 listed

Of the 191 entries, 107 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Ely’s listed buildings are homes

Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.

Houses, terraces & villas145
Walls, gates & bridges16
Public & civic buildings14
Inns, shops & warehouses8
Churches, chapels & priories6
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
Street furniture1

145 entries (76%) are houses, terraces and villas. 6 are churches, chapels and priories, including 3 of the 25 Grade I buildings.

Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.

Grade II

159 Grade II listed buildings

Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.

The first 150 of 159 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
A medieval wall on the south side of Chapel StreetArcher HouseBarn to Number 3Black Bull Public HouseCastlehytheCastlehytheCastlehytheCastlehytheCastlehytheCastlehytheChurch of St Peter in ElyCoach House and Stable Block to East of Number 1Congregational ChapelCutter Public HouseEgremont HouseEly MaltingsFountain Public HouseGazebo and Walls at MalabarsHuntingdon ManseLamb HotelLavender HouseLloyds Bank and former Bank HouseMalthouse Adjoining Number 53Malting CottageNo 4 Lynn RoadNo. 47, FORE HILLNos. 1, 2 and 3 John Beckett CourtNos. 20, 22, 24 and 24A High StreetOld Brewery Barrel HouseOld Fire Engine HouseOld King William IV HouseOld Needhams School (Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council Teacher's Centre)Palace Green CottageParsons' AlmshousesQuayside HouseRoyal Standard Public HouseSt Mary's CottageSt Mary's LodgeTelephone KioskThe BarnTower HospitalVineyard LodgeWall and Gates to the ChantryWall to Bishop's Palace Walls to Bishop's PalaceWall to Number 3Wall to Passageway at Rear of the Gardens to Castelhythe (Station Road)Wall to St John's FarmWall to the Barn and Storehouse of the MonasteryWall to the garden of the Bishop's residenceWalls and Railings to Number 3Walls to the Gardens of the Prior's House and Guest HallWaterloo HouseWhite Hart Hotel1, Market Place11 High Street, Ely (formerly known as Premises Occupied by H J Cutlack)11, Cambridge Road12, Chapel Street12-14, High Street13 and 15, Newnham Street13, St Mary's Street15 and 17, Waterside15, St Mary's Street16, Hills Lane17, St Mary's Street18, 20 and 22, Market Street18, Chapel Street19-23, St Marys Street2 Waterside and 58 Fore Hill2 and 2a Chapel Street and 15 Lynn Road, formerly 2 Chapel Street2, Downham Road2, Fore Hill2, High Street2, The Gallery2, West End2-4, St Mary's Street20, St Mary's Street21 and 23, Lynn Road21 and 23, Waterside21A and 23, High Street22 and 22A, St Marys Street22, Fore Hill23 Broad Street24, St Marys Street25 Broad Street25, Waterside27 and 29, Newnham Street27, Lynn Road28, St Mary's Street29-33, West Fen Road29A, St Mary's Street3 High Street Passage3 and 5, Downham Road3, Chequers Lane3, The Gallery30, Egremont Street30, St Mary's Street31 and 33, Waterside31, Egremont Street33 High Street34, St Mary's Street35, Fore Hill35-39, Waterside35-41, Market Street36 and 38, Waterside38a St Mary's Street39, Fore Hill4 and 5, The Gallery4 and 6, Waterside4, Chapel Street4, Church Lane4, West End40 and 42, St Mary's Street40, Waterside41, Fore Hill41, High Street41-45, Waterside45, Hills Lane46, St Mary's Street47, Waterside48 St Mary's Street49A, High Street5 Market Place5, High Street5, Silver Street50, St Mary's Street51 and 53, Waterside52 and 54, St Mary's Street52, Waterside52A, Waterside54, Broad Street54, Quayside56 and 58, Quayside56-60, St Mary's Street6 and 8, Broad Street6, St Marys Street6, The Gallery6, West End60, Quayside60-68, Market Street62 and 64, Quayside64, West End65 and 67 Waterside7 and 8, The Gallery7 and 9 Market Place7-11, Newnham Street7-11, Waterside7-13, Silver Street70, St Mary's Street72, St Marys Street74, St Mary's Street

Search the rest on Historic England’s list →

Conservation areas

1 conservation area covers 28% of Ely

Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.

Ely 1972153 ha
153 hain conservation areas, of 546 ha inside the built-up area.

191 of the 191 listed buildings stand in one.

Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

How the list grew

More than half of Ely’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1972

The year each building now on the list was first listed.

1972 · 981950 · 471968 · 23
19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 47 entries were listed in 1950, 23 of the 25 Grade I buildings among them. 98 came in 1972, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.

Monuments & landscapes

Monuments, parks and gardens

Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.

3 scheduled monuments

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.

'Cherry Hill', castle mound
Ely Cathedral: claustral buildings
History Grade

Ely grades A− for history

Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.

Protected heritage, for its size and in all (254 points, 132 per 10,000 residents)More than 87% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (12%)More than 32% of UK towns

Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.

Born here

12 notable people born in Ely before 1900

Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.

Thomas Murfyn
John Amner
Frances Cromwell
Edward Bentham
Jane Alice Sargant
John Marshall
Thomas W. Bartingale
Etheldreda Laing
C. F. Brackenbury
Frederick Hulford
F. J. E. Raby
Jack Hulbert
1500165018001950
Jack Hulbert
Jack Hulbert1892–1978 · British actor (1892-1978)
JA
John Amner1579–1641 · English composer
John Marshall
John Marshall1818–1891 · Surgeon (1818–1891)
EL
Etheldreda Laing1872–1960 · English photographer
FH
Frederick Hulford1883–1976 · British athlete (1883-1976)
Thomas Murfyn
Thomas Murfyn1450–1523 · Lord Mayor of London
JS
Jane Alice Sargant1789–1869 · British poet
Frances Cromwell
Frances Cromwell1638–1720 · (1638-1720)

Everyone born in Ely → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Towns its size

Ely has the most Grade I buildings of 488 towns its size

Places of 12,000–31,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.

Armagh25
Ely25
Wells23
Berwick-upon-Tweed14
Stratford-upon-Avon11
Lewes9
Bishop Auckland9
Whitby8
Stamford8
Sudbury8
Blandford Forum8
Tewkesbury7
#65 of 488for listed buildings per resident (100 per 10,000). Bridport, Whitby and Lewes lead.

Ely is level with Armagh. The typical town its size has 0.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Ely

TownPeopleListedGrade IHistory
Ely19,18519125A−
Little Downham1,234171B
Witchford2,38670C−
Littleport9,17080C−
Stretham2,070170B
Soham10,609431B
Haddenham3,050141B−
Sutton3,880151C+
In brief

Ely in brief

Ely has 191 listed buildings, 25 of them Grade I. No town its size has more Grade I buildings: it leads the 488 nearest in population. For its size, it has more listed heritage than 87% of UK towns. Ely Cathedral sits at the heart of it all, with 21 of the town’s Grade I buildings within 400 m.

St Mary's Street alone has 20 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1972. Of the whole list, 76% are houses, terraces and villas. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it also has 3 scheduled monuments; and 12% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.

Questions about Ely’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Ely?

Historic England lists 191 buildings inside Ely’s built-up area: 25 Grade I, 7 Grade II* and 159 Grade II.

What are the Grade I listed buildings in Ely?

25, including Almonry, Sacrists Hall, Gate and Goldsmiths Tower the Almonry, Almonry, Sacrists Hall, Gate and Goldsmiths Tower the Sacristy Gate and Goldsmith's Tower, Barn and Storehouse of the Monastery, Barn to south-west of St John's Farmhouse, Bishop's Palace Bishop's Palace (The Palace School) and Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.

Which street in Ely has the most listed buildings?

St Mary's Street (20), Waterside (16) and Broad Street (8) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

Are there scheduled monuments in Ely?

Yes, 3 scheduled monuments, including 'Cherry Hill', castle mound, Ely Cathedral: claustral buildings and Hospital of St John the Baptist and St Mary Magdalene, St John's Farm.

How many conservation areas are there in Ely?

1, covering about 153 hectares of the town. The largest is Ely.

When were Ely’s buildings listed?

The first in 1950; the most, 98, in 1972.

Who was born in Ely?

Among people born before 1900: Jack Hulbert (1892), John Amner (1579), John Marshall (1818), Etheldreda Laing (1872) and Frederick Hulford (1883).

How old are the homes in Ely?

12% of homes were built before 1919 and 19% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.

Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.