Ely Cathedral rises above a town square featuring two-story buildings, a stone monument, and a wooden fence in the foreground.

Market Place, Ely circa 1906

Market Place, Ely

History of the Market Place, Ely

The Victorian Diamond Jubilee fountain on the left was moved in 1939. The Public Room was demolished in 1965.

A drawing shows a town square filled with cattle and sheep held in wooden pens, with Ely Cathedral rising in the background.

Ely Market, 1832

1901 Ordnance Survey map detail showing the street plan of Ely Market Place, including the Corn Exchange and Assembly Rooms.

Market Place, Ely OS 1901

A black and white photograph showing a wooden railed enclosure in front of a stone wall, buildings, and Ely Cathedral.

Ely Market Place circa 1880s

The photo shows the Sessions House which was to be soon replaced by the new Public Room. In the Sessions house the Ely and Littleport rioters were tried in 1816. From 1816-1856 the upper floor was the Girls’ Charity School.

A line of uniformed soldiers stands in a market square before a crowd of onlookers, with a single officer facing them.

Ely Market Place, Coronation of Edward VII, 1902

On the left of the photo is The White Hart Hotel.

Low-angle view of the Ely marketplace with a large brick building, a turreted hall, and the cathedral towers in the distance.

Market Place, Ely c.1905

The Corn Exchange had been built in 1847 and the Public Room was built between 1880 and 1890. In 1910 a maple floor was put in for roller skating. From the 1920s to 1963 it was a cinema. The Corn Exchange and the Public Room were both demolished in 1964.

A market square with stalls under canvas awnings, flanked by brick buildings and pedestrians including two girls in the foreground.

Ely Market Place circa 1908

Right foreground is the house of George Martin Hall, clerk and coroner. In the 1930s the house was demolished and was only redeveloped in 1965 when a supermarket was built.

A large crowd of people in early twentieth-century clothing walks down a street, led by a banner featuring an oval painting.

Hospital Sunday Ely 1913 (MoC350/75)

A large crowd watches a line of soldiers holding rifles near a stone wall in front of a historic building and cathedral.

Unveiling of War Memorial Ely 1922 (MoC1118.88)

A large crowd in hats and coats stands before a brick building, with a line of uniformed soldiers in the foreground.

Market Place, Ely, 1922. Unveiling of War Shrine.

A hand-tinted postcard shows Ely Market Place with a child standing by a wooden fence, surrounding shops, and the cathedral.

Market Place, Ely

A hand-tinted postcard showing a paved market square with a large brick building on the left and stalls in the distance.

Market Place, Ely

Crowded market stalls with awnings line a town square, with shoppers browsing and a child in a pushchair in the foreground.

Market Day, Ely

Stone memorial niche with inscribed plaques, a central cross, two soldier silhouettes, and many poppy wreaths behind a fence.

War Memorial Ely 2025

A brick-paved market square lined with shops decorated for Remembrance with red artificial poppies on railings and lampposts.

War Memorial Ely 2025

A paved square in Ely featuring a black mobile coffee van, white historic buildings with shops, and a bright blue sky.

Market Place Ely (RGL2026)

A sunny market square in Ely features cafe tables under black awnings, a coffee trailer, and historical buildings with trees.

Market Place Ely (RGL2026)

A brick-paved market square in Ely features historic buildings, shops, street lamps, a flagpole, and planters with yellow flowers.

Market Place Ely (RGL2026)

A narrow brick-paved alleyway leads between a red-brick vape shop and a yellow-brick building housing a nail salon in Ely.

Market Place Ely (RGL2026)

Sources

Museum of Cambridge
Ordnance Survey
Unknown Source

Projects

Share this article

Facebook Bluesky

Contribute

Do you have any information about the people or places in this article? If so, then please let us know using the Contact page or by emailing capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk.

Licence

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 not including content on external links as indicated by.