London - St Etheldreda's RC Church, Ely Place, martyrs - postcard c.1980s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  St. Etheldreda's [Roman Catholic Church], Ely Place, London [on the edge of the City, just within the borough of Camden] - shows Margaret Ward, Edmund Gennings, Edward Jones - English Catholic Martyrs
• Publisher: Woodmansterne Publications
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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St Etheldreda's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Ely Place, off Charterhouse Street in Holborn, London. The building is one of only two surviving in London from the reign of Edward I, and dates from between 1250 and 1290. It is dedicated to Æthelthryth, or Etheldreda, the Anglo-Saxon saint who founded the monastery at Ely in 673. It was the chapel of the London residence of the Bishops of Ely.

In the early 17th century it served briefly as an embassy chapel for the Spanish Ambassador, and a haven for English Catholics. The chapel was purchased by the Catholic Church in 1874 and opened in 1878 and is one of the oldest churches in England to be in current use by the Catholic Church.

St Etheldreda's consists of a chapel, or upper church, and a crypt or undercroft and is active and used for Masses, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Because Etheldreda was often invoked for help with infections of the throat, the Blessing of the Throats is held annually at the chapel.

The Catholic chapel at the United States Military Academy, West Point, is modelled on St Etheldreda's.[citation needed]

History

13th century

St Etheldreda's was built some time between 1250 and 1290 as the town chapel for the Bishops of Ely.[2] It was part of Ely Palace or Ely House, their London residence.

14th century

In 1302, John, Earl of Warenne, swore his loyalty to Edward II in the chapel.

In 1381 John of Gaunt moved to the palace, after the Savoy Palace was destroyed during the Peasants' Revolt.

16th century

In 1534, Catholic Masses were outlawed in England. The Bishops of Ely continued to oversee the chapel which was used for Anglican worship after the English Reformation.

In 1576 a lease on a portion of the house and lands surrounding the chapel was granted by Richard Cox, Bishop of Ely, to Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourite of Elizabeth I. The rent was £10, ten loads of hay and one red rose per year, a small enough sum to give rise to suspicion that Elizabeth had put pressure on the bishop. Hatton borrowed extensively from the crown to pay for refurbishment and upkeep of the property. During his tenancy, the crypt was used as a tavern.

Ely Palace is mentioned in two of Shakespeare's plays, Richard II and Richard III.

17th century

In 1620, the upper church was granted to Count Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, to use as a private chapel and considered to be on Spanish soil. Catholic worship, still illegal in England, was allowed in the church. Two years later, during a diplomatic dispute between England and Spain, Gondomar was recalled to Spain and use of the chapel was not given to his successor.

Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely from 1638 (and uncle of Christopher Wren), worshipped at St Etheldreda's chapel before his imprisonment in 1641.

In 1642, the palace and church was requisitioned by Parliament for use as a prison and hospital during the English Civil War. During Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth (1649–1660) most of the palace was demolished and the gardens were destroyed.