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