The Vault of the Ely Lady Chapel: Fourteenth or Fifteenth Century?

The early fourteenth-century Lady Chapel at Ely has long been regarded as a crucial building in the development of the English Decorated Style. Its vault is one of the widest in England and, if contemporary with the fabric, is stylistically the most advanced of its day. But a number of external and internal features suggest that the construction of the vault involved considerable damage to the existing fabric, damage that would be highly unlikely had the vault been erected in the original building campaign completed in 1349. In particular, the relationship between the vault and the elevation is so odd as to raise doubts concerning its authenticity. Indeed, it is questionable whether the Lady Chapel was originally to be vaulted at all. The Lady Chapel vault is different in almost every respect from that over the choir of Ely Cathedral, yet we are asked to accept them as near contemporaries. A search of the records, accounts and obits--a remarkable collection for its wealth of detail--fails to produce any reference in the fourteenth century to the building, decoration or even the existence of this remarkable vault. The closest parallel to the Ely vault in both structure and style is provided by the nave and choir vaults of Norwich Cathedral, 1463-1499, and the proposal will here be made that a late fifteenth-century date may be more appropriate for Ely. This claim is further supported by the presence, hitherto unnoticed, of six 'Tudor' ciphers within the vault decoration.