Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Sunday, 14 May 2023

Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Ely


The Pilgrimage route now turns west and into what was once the depths of the Fens to visit Ely, with its great and majestic cathedral rising up on its isle from the now drained surrounding landscape. 

The devotion to Our Lady of Ely pre-dates the establishment of the diocese in 1109 in what had hitherto been a Benedictine abbey. It remained a monastic foundation until the dissolution in 1539. In addition to the shrine of St Etheldreda, the seventh century royal foundress of the monastery, the cathedral had a tradition of devotion to Our Lady, expressed in the marvellous fourteenth century Lady Chapel.

The links to my previous posts about this devotion can be seen at Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Ely

Our Lady of Ely pray for The King and The Queen and for us all.


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