Ely Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastic establishment on the Isle of Ely first established in 673 by Æthelthryth the daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia. The first establishment was destroyed by the Danes in 870, but Edgar, King of England re-established the monastery in 970 as part of the English Benedictine Reform.

First establishment

The precise siting of Æthelthryth's original monastery is not known. It was built on land she had received from her late husband, Tondberct, "prince of the South Gyrwas", as a morning gift. The original Abbey was established in 673 as a double monastery with facilities for both monks and nuns. Athelthryth's sister, Seaxburh married King Eorcenberht of Kent. Upon her husband's death, she served as regent for her son, Ecgberht. Despite having founded abbeys at Milton Regis and Minster-in-Sheppey (where her daughter, Ermenilda was a nun), she subsequently chose to retire to her sister's foundation at Ely. When Athelthryth died in 679, Seaxburh succeeded her as abbess.