Ely Dean and Chapter
Biography
Ely was a Benedictine abbey first founded by St Etheldreda in 673. It had extensive lands and endowments in the Isle of Ely and Cambridgeshire. In 1109 the diocese of Ely was formed (out of Lincoln diocese), and the Abbot of Ely became the first Bishop, the Prior then becoming the head of the monastery. At the Reformation the monastery was dissolved, and a Chapter of a Dean and eight Prebendaries (or Canons) was established. The Chapter (now a Dean and two Canons) remains the governing body of the cathedral.