Hermitage, Honey Hill

History of Hermitage at Honey Hill

Near Honey Hill are traces of a stone building which was believed to be the site of the Hermitage established by Huna, chaplain to St Etheldreda at Ely, who retired from the monastery to the seclusion of a small island called Huneia. he was buried here before being translated to Thorney in the 10th century. the Liber Eliensis describes how Huna, Etheldreda’s priest, buries her at her wish in the cemetery with the other nuns and then retires to the solitary life in the fens where he wins widespread renown for his spirituality. After his death and burial here, his grave appears to have become a centre of pilgrimage where the sick were healed.

It has been argued that ‘Honey’ come from ‘Hunna’s eye’ or island, following a misreading of the Liber.

https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/5167/

http://www.chatteris.org/our-story