Ely Chapel is the one remnant of a medieval bishop’s palace remaining in London. Its story takes us back to very early times when the bishops of Ely had their town residence in the Temple, an arrangement which apparently was not very satisfactory. Thus when John de Kirkeby, bishop of Ely, died in 1290 he left a piece of property above Holborn to his successors for a town house. Over the next few generations this became Ely Place, one of the most magnificent mansions in London. The chapel, dedicated to St Etheldreda, was probably built by de Kirkeby’s immediate successor, William de Luda, and was served by three chaplains.
By the end of the fourteenth century Ely Place was further beautified by an orchard, vineyard and kitchen garden, its entrance made stately by the addition of a handsome gatehouse graced by the arms of the famous archbishop Arundel. The chapel stood at the northwest corner of the cloisters, in a field planted with trees and surrounded by a wall. At about this time the celebrated John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, patron of Geoffrey Chaucer and John Wyclif, somehow came to reside at Ely Place. Here the old nobleman died in 1399, and in Richard II, Act ii, scene 1, Shakespeare has him admonishing with his last breath his dissipated nephew, King Richard II: Landlord of England art thou, and not king!
Ely Place figures in another memorable scene from a Shakespearean play, Richard III, when Richard, the villainous Duke of Gloucester, to bide his time before denouncing Lord Hastings, says to the bishop of Ely:
My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, I saw good strawberries in your garden there; I do beseech you, send for some of them!
Richard’s conqueror at Bosworth Field and the first of the Tudor monarchs, Henry VII, was present at a great banquet at Ely Place in 1495. Some thirty-six years later his more famous son, Henry VIII, was also a guest at a magnificent feast at Ely Place lasting five days. Henry’s queen, Catherine of Aragon, also attended, but dined separately from her husband, a sign of the strained relationship which contributed eventually to a break with the Roman Catholic Church and the founding of the Church of England.
During Elizabeth l’s reign a gentleman lawyer named Sir Christopher Hatton attracted the attention of her majesty, and eventually was elevated to the post of Lord Chancellor. In 1576 the bishop of Ely, wishing to oblige Elizabeth, granted to Hatton the gatehouse of Ely Place and fourteen acres on a twenty-one-year lease. The rent was one red rose for the gatehouse and ten loads of hay and ten pounds sterling a year for the rest. Hatton spent a fortune improving the estate, with money mainly borrowed from the queen. When Elizabeth demanded the money back, the pressure of this unexpected debt brought on a heart attack, and Hatton died in Ely Place in 1591, a broken man.
Hatton’s nephew succeeded to the property, and a couple of years later the bishops of Ely occupied part of Ely Place once again. In the tense days of Charles l’s reign when theatres were under fire from the Puritans, Ely Place was the scene of a lavish masque, made up by the members of the inns of court to please Queen Henrietta Maria. Later, during the Civil War, the estate was made into a hospital and prison Finally, in 1762, the last Lord Hatton died and the property reverted to the crown. The bishops of Ely at this time were granted a spacious house in Piccadilly.
Old Ely Chapel is now the lone survivor of Ely Place (and the only pre-Reformation Roman Catholic place of worship in London). Entrance from the street (Ely Place, which runs north off of Charterhouse Street) is via a passageway on the left of the chapel, and next to this is a small paved courtyard, the remnant of the garden where once roses and strawberries grew. Inside the chapel itself the most important item is the large east window with its delicate tracery (the stained glass, of course, is gone). The side windows also boast fine tracery. In between are arcaded niches now filled with statues of English Catholic martyrs done by Charles and May Blakeman, 1952–64. Beneath is a vaulted crypt which stands on Roman foundations. At one time it served as a tavern called The Mitre. The Chapel is open to visitors upon application at the door.