City of Ely Cemetery

The cemetery grounds are accessed from a double-gated sweeping driveway. At the entrance is a period house surrounded by mature woodland, and these trees continue to follow the curving driveway so that as it is approached the cemetery is glimpsed through the different coloured barks and leaves against a backdrop of lush green lawn.

Owing to the undulations in the landscape not all of the cemetery can be seen at once giving it an intimate feel like a large garden. As the driveway rises up towards the Chapel the oldest section of the cemetery is on the left, the large darkened and weathered stones giving the centuries-past feeling of belonging, like the traditional churchyard.

The land immediately on the right is low-lying and as a result quite wet making it unsuitable for adult burials. It is therefore reserved for child burials, and as a result is sparsely populated allowing for a predominance of lawn with a scattering of smaller headstones. The perimeter of the cemetery where it borders the roadway is screened by various trees and mixed hedges, as befits the rural setting, and is a home to a variety of small wildlife.

At the furthest edge of the cemetery a huge mound can be seen surmounted by a splendid, ancient ash tree. The mound was the site of a windmill and traces of a cart track and possible outbuildings can still be seen. The long-held belief that it was the site of a mass burial during a cholera epidemic, is not true, but the story has created Ely’s very own urban myth! Further along are a few war graves, identical and simple. Many of those drafted from this area in the Second World War saw action in the Far East and never returned.