One of the prominent features in the Norman conquest of England after 1066 was the replacement of Anglo-Saxon churches by new buildings of unseen splendour. In Ely (Cambridgeshire) a huge cathedral was erected in the 11th and 12th century above an older monastic building which preserved the shrine of St. Etheldreda, the pious daughter of a 7th century Anglo-Saxon king. In 1322, however, the crossing tower collapsed and was replaced by this unique 200-tons octagon lantern, one of the gems of gothic architecture (23 m wide and 52 m high, internally 43 m high).
The romanesque nave (of which the vaults are disfigured by a Victorian decoration) can be seen on the right and is with 75 m the longest in England.