St Etheldreda's Church, Ely, Catholic church and shrine in Ely, England
St Etheldreda's Church in Ely is a Gothic Revival church and national shrine in the town center of Ely, in the east of England. The building has a nave flanked by two side aisles, a raised sanctuary at the far end, and stained glass windows depicting saints along the walls.
The church was designed by architect Simon Croot and opened in 1903 to serve the local Catholic community. Its official consecration came much later, in 1987, long after the building had already become a working parish church.
The church holds a relic of St Etheldreda, an Anglo-Saxon queen and abbess, whose left hand is kept here and venerated by visitors today. Pilgrims from across the country come to pray beside it, making this one of the few active pilgrimage sites in the east of England.
The church sits in the town center of Ely and is easy to reach on foot from most parts of the town. Services are held at set times during the week, so planning a visit outside those hours gives more time to look around freely.
During World War II, the church offered pastoral care to Italian and German prisoners of war held in the area around Ely. This meant the building was serving people from enemy nations at the same time it was supporting its own wartime congregation.
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