St Mary's Church, Ely

St Mary's Church, Ely, was mainly constructed in the thirteenth century, and is an attractive feature of the town, though it is somewhat overlooked by the more impressive cathedral in whose shadow it sits. Having just left the latter, St Mary’s remained locked to me, as though it had given up competing for footfall.

Curiously, an unusual stone inscription sits on the wall, listing five male occupants of a communal grave located nearby. The five were convicted of ‘diverse Robberies during the Riots at Ely and Littleport’ in the May of 1816. It concludes, starkly:

May their awful Fate

Be a warning to others.

I could see no further evidence of interred robbers and rioters, so perhaps the inscription fulfilled the purpose for which its patrons had intended. Perhaps each and every church building in our benighted land offers silent and poignant witness and warning of the Judgement to come. Do those who walk or drive by attending to this or that ever consider the great God for whose glory these churches were built? Do those tall spires cause their proud, blinded eyes to lift up to heaven, like wild Nebuchadnezzar’s?

Forasmuch as that, which may be known of God, is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him, that is, his eternal power and Godhead, are seen by the creation of the world, being considered in his works, to the intent that they should be without excuse: Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was full of darkness. Romans 1:19-21, Geneva Bible