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THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF
ELY
A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
OF THE BUILDING WITH A SHORT
ACCOUNT OF THE FORMER
MONASTERY AND OF THE SEE
BY
THE REV. W. D. SWEETING, M.A.
VICAR OF HOLY TRINITY, ROTHERHITHE
AND
AUTHOR OF "PETERBOROUGH"
WITH XLVIIILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1910
First Published June 1901.
Reprinted 1902, 1910.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
It is hardly necessary to give a complete list of all the authoritiesconsulted in the preparation of this book. As specially valuable for Elymay be named the "Liber Eliensis" and the "Inquisitio Eliensis"; thehistories of Bentham, Hewett, and Stewart; the "Memorials of Ely," andthe Handbook to the Cathedral edited and revised by the late Dean;Professor Freeman's Introduction to Farren's "Cathedral Cities of Elyand Norwich"; and the various reports of Sir G. G. Scott. But numerousother sources of information have been examined, and have supplied factsor theories; and in nearly every instance, particularly where the verywords are quoted, the authority is given in the text or in the notes.
My best thanks are due to the Dean of Ely for his ready courtesy inallowing free access to every part of the cathedral and for his solutionof various difficulties which had presented themselves in comparingdifferent accounts of the fabric. I have also to thank the Rev. T.Perkins and the Photochrom Company for the use of the photographs fromwhich the illustrations have been prepared. For many curious details, andfor the loan of some books that are out of print and difficult toobtain, I acknowledge my obligation to Mr. C. Johnson, of Ely.
W. D. SWEETING.