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Welcome to Ely

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, about 14 miles (23 km) north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles (129 km) by road from London.

Ely is built on a 23-square-mile (60 km2) Kimmeridge Clay island which, at 85 feet (26 m), is the highest land in the Fens. It was due to this topography that Ely was not waterlogged like the surrounding Fenland, and was an island separated from the mainland.

The economy of the region is mainly agricultural. Before the Fens were drained, eel fishing was an important activity, from which the settlement’s name may have been derived. The city had been the centre of local pottery production for more than 700 years, including pottery known as Babylon ware. 

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