Ely, town in East Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, eastern England, on the Ouse River. Located in an agricultural region, Ely has manufactures that include farm machinery, refined beet sugar, and other processed foods. The town is also a tourist center, known for its huge cathedral (1083-1543). An abbey was founded here about AD673 by Saint Etheldreda, queen of Northumbria. It was destroyed by the Danes in 870. A Benedictine monastery was established on the ruins in 970. Ely, one of the last Saxon strongholds after the Norman Conquest, surrendered in 1071 following a rebellion led by the Saxon yeoman Hereward the Wake. Population (1994) 11,760.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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