Ely Cathedral

Number four on our list of cathedral visits and visually the most stunning yet. The magnificent front door,  from which you get the impressive view of the nave, so tall and narrow with a painted ceiling leading on to the Octogen tower, stunning. Everywhere there is intricate stone carvings and amazing wood work. Visually overwhelming, not surprised that parts of it was used in the Harry Potter films.
The pleasant surprise of the visit was finding the Bog Wood Table or , officially, the Jubilee Oak Table was still being exhibited. This table is 13 metres long, an impressive size but not the main point of interest. It is made of wood from an oak tree that is at least 5000 years old. The wood is a lot older than the pyramids and Stonehenge and even predates the Sahara desert.
This oak tree was originally 55mts tall when it fell down into an East Anglian bog, where it remained undisturbed and remarkably well preserved until 2012 when it was uncovered. Evidently Black Oak as it is known is not uncommon but a piece over 13 mts long in such good state is exceptional.
When excavated it was too large, heavy and delicate to move so a Canadian company provided a sawmill that could be erected on site that produce ten planks, thirteen  mts long. These were then transported, dried, machined and made into this table, called the Jubilee Table, as the tree was found in 2012, Diamond jubilee year. It was "opened" ten years later by Princess Anne.
Amongst all the overwhelmingly magnificent craftmanship of the cathedral I think I was drawn to the table because of its simplicity and its incredible story. I use a table every day so can relate to it more easily. 
Try as I might I could not get a good picture, its too big, too black and surrounded by people. The full story and good pictures can be found 
here