Chapter 11
ElyEtheldreda decided to start building a church on the island of Ely to take the place of the one that had been destroyed, and spoke to her husband about the possibility of founding a religious community there. He did not demur, and she set about at once looking for an appropriate place. She found a little hill, with a stream at its foot, and surrounded by a forest so green and bright it was almost luminous. She stood on its summit and looked out over her land, her heart knowing that she had found the place. It seemed to her that it had been a holy place before... there was a feeling of continuity... of abiding purpose...
‘If God exists,’ she thought, ‘He has always existed and He has always been speaking to his people. He has spoken on this hill before in ancient times, befo
