Housed in the Old Gaol House, this quirky little museum appropriately features gruesome tableaux inside prisoners' cells, plus displays on the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Long Barrow burial ground at nearby Haddlington, and the formation of the Fens. You are also initiated into the mysteries of old Ely trades such as leatherwork and eel-catching.
Ely Museum
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
14.88 MILES
In a city crammed with showstopping buildings, this is a scene-stealer. Grandiose 16th-century King's College Chapel is one of England’s most…
14.72 MILES
The largest of Cambridge's colleges, Trinity offers an extraordinary Tudor gateway, an air of supreme elegance and a sweeping Great Court – the largest of…
0.13 MILES
Ely Cathedral’s stunning silhouette dominates the whole area; it’s dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it’s so visible across the vast, flat sweeps of…
15.14 MILES
Fondly dubbed 'the Fitz' by locals, this colossal neoclassical pile was one of the first public art museums in Britain, built to house the fabulous…
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21.69 MILES
At Europe's biggest aviation museum, 200 lovingly preserved vintage aircraft are housed in several enormous hangars. The vast airfield showcases…
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26.31 MILES
Positively palatial in its scale, style and the all-too-apparent ambition of its creator, the first Earl of Suffolk, the fabulous early-Jacobean Audley…
14.75 MILES
Behind the Cambridge colleges’ grandiose facades and stately courts, a series of gardens and parks line up beside the river. Collectively known as the…
15.13 MILES
Tales of hostile environments, dogged determination and, sometimes, life-claiming mistakes are evoked powerfully at this compelling museum. Its focus on…
Nearby attractions
0.13 MILES
Ely Cathedral’s stunning silhouette dominates the whole area; it’s dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it’s so visible across the vast, flat sweeps of…
0.2 MILES
England's premier Puritan lived in this attractive, half-timbered house with his family from 1636 to 1647, when he was the local tithe collector. The…
14.5 MILES
This tranquil 15th-century college was once a nunnery of St Radegund before the Bishop of Ely, John Alcock, expelled the nuns for 'improvidence,…
14.53 MILES
The 3000 books in this unique collection were bequeathed by the eponymous 17th-century diarist to his old college. This idiosyncratic collection of…
14.55 MILES
An £11 million revamp has added high-tech contemporary-art galleries to much-loved Kettle's Yard. The big draw for many though will be the original…
14.56 MILES
Riverside Magdalene often catches people out – the college name is properly pronounced 'Maud-lyn'. This former Benedictine hostel's greatest asset is the…
14.62 MILES
Cambridge’s intensely atmospheric Round Church is one of only four such structures in England. It was built by the mysterious Knights Templar in 1130 and…
14.68 MILES
Alma mater of six prime ministers, three saints and Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), St John's is superbly photogenic…