Ely, Cambridgeshire - Test
Ely Cambridgeshire
  • 1. What famous landmark can be found in Ely that dominates the surrounding landscape?
A) Ely Cathedral
B) The Shard
C) Stonehenge
D) Big Ben
  • 2. Ely is known for its association with which historical figure?
A) Oliver Cromwell
B) Queen Elizabeth I
C) King Henry VIII
D) William Shakespeare
  • 3. What is the local football club in Ely known as?
A) London United FC
B) Ely City FC
C) Liverpool Blues FC
D) Manchester Reds FC
  • 4. What is the name of the ancient site near Ely that is believed to have been an important center for ritual and trading activities in the Bronze Age?
A) Flag Fen
B) Mystery Mountain
C) Secret Valley
D) Enigma Island
  • 5. Which plant species can be found abundantly in the wetlands surrounding Ely?
A) Cactus
B) Fern
C) Palm Tree
D) Reed
  • 6. Ely is often referred to as a ____.
A) Village
B) Metropolis
C) Town
D) City
  • 7. What is the name of the long-distance footpath that passes through Ely and follows the course of an ancient chalk ridge?
A) Icknield Way
B) Appalachian Trail
C) Camino de Santiago
D) Pacific Crest Trail
  • 8. In which county is Ely located?
A) Kent
B) Cambridgeshire
C) Yorkshire
D) Surrey
  • 9. Which famous author wrote a detective novel set in Ely called 'Clouds of Witness'?
A) Dorothy L. Sayers
B) Arthur Conan Doyle
C) Agatha Christie
D) Patricia Highsmith
  • 10. What is the approximate distance from Ely to Cambridge?
A) 24 miles
B) 80 miles
C) 14 miles
D) 23 km
  • 11. What is the highest land in the Fens?
A) The River Witham
B) The River Nene
C) The Kimmeridge Clay island
D) The River Great Ouse
  • 12. What type of soil is found in the Fens after they were drained?
A) Rich and fertile soil
B) Sandy soil
C) Clay soil
D) Rocky soil
  • 13. What was a significant means of transport in Ely until the Fens were drained?
A) The River Great Ouse
B) The River Nene
C) The River Witham
D) The River Welland
  • 14. What is one of the Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Ely?
A) A medieval castle
B) A Victorian garden
C) A former Kimmeridge Clay quarry
D) A Roman amphitheater
  • 15. What is the name of the annual fair granted by Henry II in 1189?
A) The Ely Fair
B) Saint Audrey's
C) Saint Etheldreda's and Saint Audrey's
D) Saint Etheldreda's
  • 16. What does the word 'tawdry' originate from?
A) Expensive jewelry
B) Cheap lace sold at the fair
C) Leather goods
D) Silk garments
  • 17. When was Ely railway station built?
A) 1753
B) 1885
C) 1769
D) 1845
  • 18. Which city is Ely twinned with since 1956?
A) Copenhagen, Denmark
B) Helsinki, Finland
C) Ribe, Denmark
D) Oslo, Norway
  • 19. What is the name of the annual event established in 2004?
A) The River Festival
B) The Eel Festival
C) The Fish Festival
D) The Fen Festival
  • 20. What is the name of the Roman road passing through Ely?
A) Ermine Street
B) Watling Street
C) Akeman Street
D) Icknield Way
  • 21. What type of pottery is Ely known for?
A) Bone china
B) Babylon ware
C) Porcelain
D) Wedgwood
  • 22. What is the population of the built-up area of Ely according to the 2021 census?
A) 21,000
B) 19,185
C) 20,574
D) 18,000
  • 23. What is the name of the coach route improved in 1769?
A) The A10
B) The turnpike (toll road)
C) The Roman road
D) The Fen Line
  • 24. What was an important activity before the Fens were drained?
A) Wheat farming
B) Corn farming
C) Eel fishing
D) Cattle farming
  • 25. What is the name of the medieval agricultural feature found in Ely?
A) Medieval terracing
B) Medieval plowing
C) Medieval ridge and furrow agriculture
D) Medieval crop rotation
  • 26. What is the name of the Roman settlement near Ely?
A) Little Thetford
B) Great Thetford
C) Middle Thetford
D) Big Thetford
  • 27. What is the name of the settlement that is part of the Ely parish?
A) Cambridge
B) London
C) Chettisham
D) Peterborough
  • 28. What is the earliest recorded form of Ely's name as mentioned in Bede's Ecclesiastical History?
A) Helga
B) Elge
C) Elias
D) Eli
  • 29. Which scholar derived the name Ely from the Old Northumbrian term ēlġē?
A) Ekwall
B) Reaney
C) Skeat
D) Mills
  • 30. What does the Old Northumbrian term ēlġē mean according to Skeat?
A) Eel Island
B) District of eels
C) Willow district
D) Paradise
  • 31. What is the modern German word related to the hypothetical word *ġē?
A) Gebirge
B) Gesellschaft
C) Garten
D) Gau
  • 32. Which scholar proposed that Ely's name might derive from 'Elysium'?
A) Reaney
B) Skeat
C) Mac Dowdy
D) Miller
  • 33. What term did Mac Dowdy use to describe Ely's historical significance?
A) Island
B) District
C) Paradise
D) Willow
  • 34. Which chronicler used the term 'Elysium' to describe Ely?
A) Wilfrid's chronicler
B) Bede's chronicler
C) Ovin
D) Etheldreda
  • 35. What is the Old English spelling of Ely as found in charters and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle?
A) Elias
B) Elige
C) Helig
D) Elig
  • 36. What is the proposed Celtic origin of Ely's name according to Miller?
A) Helyg or heli
B) Helga
C) Heliopolis
D) Helios
  • 37. What did Bailey point out about the name Ely if it were from ēlġē?
A) It would be irrelevant
B) It would be anomalous
C) It would be common
D) It would be accurate
  • 38. What is the discrepancy in the spelling of Ely's name that Bailey highlighted?
A) The usual English spelling remains Elig
B) The usual English spelling is Helig
C) The usual English spelling is Elye
D) The usual English spelling is Elige
  • 39. What was the term for eels in the region before the 1300s?
A) Eels
B) Piscis
C) Fish
D) Agulla or anguilles
  • 40. What is the meaning of the Brythonic word helig?
A) Island
B) Eels
C) Paradise
D) Willows
  • 41. What is the meaning of the Brythonic word heli?
A) Paradise
B) District
C) Fresh water
D) Salt water
  • 42. Which scholar discussed the Celtic origin of Ely's name in Fenland Notes and Queries?
A) Reaney
B) Mac Dowdy
C) Skeat
D) Miller
  • 43. Which notable prehistoric creature was almost completely found at Roswell Pits?
A) A pterosaur
B) A pliosaur
C) A mammoth
D) A dinosaur
  • 44. What was Ely's abbey's rank in wealth according to the Domesday survey?
A) The third richest monastery in England
B) The second richest monastery in England
C) The richest monastery in England
D) The poorest monastery in England
  • 45. When did the first Norman bishop start building the cathedral?
A) In 1083
B) In 673
C) In 870
D) In 970
  • 46. What event caused the original nave crossing of Ely Cathedral to collapse?
A) An earthquake in 970
B) A fire in 1083
C) The collapse occurred on 22 February 1322
D) A flood in 870
  • 47. Who granted city status to Ely by royal charter?
A) In 1322
B) In 1083
C) In 1974
D) In 1539
  • 48. Who is thought to have built Ely Castle?
A) Henry III of England
B) Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester
C) Simeon, the first Norman bishop
D) William the Conqueror
  • 49. When did Henry III grant a market to the Bishop of Ely?
A) In 1083
B) On 9 April 1224
C) In 1322
D) In 1539
  • 50. In what year were William Wolsey and Robert Pygot executed?
A) 1816
B) 1555
C) 1539
D) 1607
  • 51. Who condemned William Wolsey and Robert Pygot?
A) John Fuller
B) John Howard
C) William Camden
D) Oliver Cromwell
  • 52. When was a plaque commemorating the martyrdom of William Wolsey and Robert Pygot erected?
A) 1725
B) 1555
C) 1816
D) 2011
  • 53. What role did Oliver Cromwell serve in Ely?
A) Bishop
B) Tax collector
C) Prison reformer
D) Gaoler
  • 54. What charity was Oliver Cromwell a governor of?
A) Thomas Parsons' Charity
B) Cromwell's Charity
C) Holy Trinity Charity
D) Bishop's Charity
  • 55. When did Oliver Cromwell live in Ely?
A) 1555 to 1565
B) 1636 to 1646
C) 1725 to 1735
D) 1816 to 1826
  • 56. What was the purpose of the early workhouse arrangement with Nicholas Wythers?
A) To house unmarried mothers
B) To reform prisoners
C) To employ the poor to spin jersey
D) To collect taxes
  • 57. When was the purpose-built workhouse erected in Ely?
A) 1837
B) 1816
C) 1725
D) 1555
  • 58. What was the capacity of the Ely Union workhouse when it was built?
A) 80 inmates
B) 24 inmates
C) 300 inmates
D) 35 inmates
  • 59. Who visited Ely on 5 July 1790 and described it as 'mean, to the extreme'?
A) William Camden
B) John Byng
C) Celia Fiennes
D) Daniel Defoe
  • 60. How many rioters were condemned at the Special Commission assizes in Ely in 1816?
A) 10
B) 5
C) 24
D) 19
  • 61. What was the outcome for the majority of the rioters condemned in 1816?
A) They were all executed
B) They were all acquitted
C) Their sentences were commuted from penal transportation for life to twelve months' imprisonment
D) They were all transported for life
  • 62. What year did the cholera outbreak isolate Ely?
A) 1725
B) 1816
C) 1832
D) 1555
  • 63. Who was the architect responsible for the restoration of Ely Cathedral?
A) John Jones
B) Nikolaus Pevsner
C) George Gilbert Scott
D) Edward the Confessor
  • 64. In what year was the pavement labyrinth installed at Ely Cathedral?
A) 1845
B) 1870
C) 1954
D) 1924
  • 65. Which king's reforms led to the refounding of the abbey at Ely?
A) Queen Victoria
B) Edward the Confessor
C) King Edgar the Peaceful
D) William the Conqueror
  • 66. What was the population of Ely in 2021?
A) 20,574
B) 11,291
C) 15,000
D) 25,000
  • 67. What was the size of Ely's urban area?
A) 1.84 sq mi (4.77 km2)
B) 5 sq mi (13 km2)
C) 22.86 sq mi (59.21 km2)
D) 10 sq mi (25.9 km2)
  • 68. Which historian wrote about Ely's cathedral dominating the landscape?
A) George Gilbert Scott
B) Pamela Blakeman
C) Nikolaus Pevsner
D) John Jones
  • 69. Which historian claims Ely has the largest collection of medieval buildings still in daily use?
A) Nikolaus Pevsner
B) Pamela Blakeman
C) George Gilbert Scott
D) John Jones
  • 70. What was the elevation of the cathedral and its associated buildings above the nearby fens?
A) 50 feet (15 m)
B) 30 feet (9 m)
C) 100 feet (30 m)
D) 68 feet (21 m)
  • 71. Which legal authority did not completely endorse the bishop's royal privileges at Ely?
A) George Gilbert Scott
B) Sir Edward Coke
C) John Jones
D) Nikolaus Pevsner
  • 72. What was the population of Ely in 1991?
A) 15,000
B) 25,000
C) 11,291
D) 20,574
  • 73. Which king reconfirmed the special freedoms given to Ely?
A) William the Conqueror
B) Edward the Confessor
C) King Edgar the Peaceful
D) Queen Elizabeth II
  • 74. Which centuries saw the restoration of Ely Cathedral?
A) 18th century
B) 17th century
C) 20th century
D) 19th century
  • 75. How many tiers of local government cover Ely?
A) Four
B) Three
C) One
D) Two
  • 76. How many councillors does Ely South return for the East Cambridgeshire District Council?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
  • 77. What was the local government body in Ely from 1850 to 1894?
A) Local board
B) East Cambridgeshire District Council
C) City of Ely Urban District Council
D) City of Ely Council
  • 78. What is the local name for the Cretaceous chalks found in east Cambridgeshire?
A) Clunch
B) Boulder Clay
C) Lower Greensand
D) Jurassic limestones
  • 79. What geological formation is the Isle of Ely primarily composed of?
A) Jurassic limestones
B) Lower Greensand
C) Boulder Clay
D) Kimmeridge Clay
  • 80. Who led the drainage of the fens in the 17th century?
A) John Wesley
B) Cornelius Vermuyden
C) Francis Russell
D) Daniel Defoe
  • 81. How many households were recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 in Ely?
A) 110 households
B) 800 households
C) 457 households
D) 345 households
  • 82. By which year did the population of Ely reach 3,000?
A) 1251
B) 1416
C) 1563
D) 1753
  • 83. What type of deposits formed in the fresh-water swamps and meres of the fens?
A) Clay
B) Sand
C) Silt
D) Peat
  • 84. What was the role of Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford, in the draining of the fens?
A) He opposed the drainage
B) He led the engineering work
C) He documented the process
D) He supported the drainage financially
  • 85. Which village was worth 24,000 eels to the abbot of Ely in 1086?
A) Liteltetford
B) Babylon
C) Litelport
D) Stuntenei
  • 86. When was one of the largest sugar beet factories in England opened near Ely?
A) 1925
B) 1981
C) 1860
D) 1850
  • 87. Which industry provided significant employment in the Ely area between 1850 and 1890?
A) Sugar beet farming
B) Pottery making
C) Willow crafting
D) Phosphate nodule digging
  • 88. When was the Stained Glass Museum first granted officially by Henry I to the abbot and convent?
A) 23 June 1189
B) 1 January 1189
C) 15 July 1189
D) 10 October 1189
  • 89. When was the Ely-Ribe Tapestry commissioned?
A) 1996
B) 2004
C) 2010
D) 1985
  • 90. Which building in Ely is known for its 'timbered appearance' and was restored in 1905?
A) The Lamb Hotel
B) The Bishop's Palace
C) The Maltings
D) Cromwell's House
  • 91. What is the name of the Grade I listed building that was once a four-building farmstead?
A) St John's farmhouse
B) The Lamb Hotel
C) The Bishop's Palace
D) The Maltings
  • 92. Which building in Ely was erected as a coaching house in 1828 and 1829?
A) The Maltings
B) The Lamb Hotel
C) The Bishop's Palace
D) Cromwell's House
  • 93. What is the name of the Grade II listed building that was once the city's courthouse?
A) Shire Hall
B) The Bishop's Palace
C) The Lamb Hotel
D) The Maltings
  • 94. What is the name of the annual event held on the first Sunday of July in Ely?
A) Aquafest
B) Ely's annual fireworks display
C) Ely Horticultural Society's Great Autumn Show
D) Ely Folk Festival
  • 95. What is the current name of Mount Hill after the tree plantings by James Bentham?
A) Bentham Hill
B) Green Hill
C) Cherry Hill
D) Abbey Hill
  • 96. Which species is protected at the Chettisham Meadow SSSI?
A) Swallowtail Butterfly
B) Green-winged Orchid
C) Red Admiral Butterfly
D) Common Blue Butterfly
  • 97. Who encouraged the construction of a turnpike road between Ely and Cambridge in the 1760s?
A) John Fordham
B) Clement of Thetford
C) James Bentham
D) Edmund Carter
  • 98. When was the southwestern bypass of Ely built?
A) 2018
B) 2011
C) 1986
D) 1769
  • 99. In which year was the diocese of Ely created?
A) 1083
B) 1189
C) 1322
D) 1108
  • 100. How long did it take to complete the construction of Ely Cathedral?
A) 116 years
B) 75 years
C) 50 years
D) 200 years
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