The Dark Cloister is a Grade I listed building in the East Cambridgeshire local planning authority area, England. A Mid C13 Passage.
The Dark Cloister
- WRENN ID
- north-pilaster-twilight
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- East Cambridgeshire
- Constituency
- Ely and East Cambridgeshire MP: Charlotte Cane (LD)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Passage
- Address
- The Dark Cloister, the College, Ely
- OS grid reference
- TL 541 801
- Coordinates
- 52.39809, 0.26395
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Dark Cloister is a mid-13th century vaulted passage that originally connected the Dormitory with the Infirmary. Above the passage, there was likely a storey that contained a school. Currently, only the south wall of the vaulted passage remains, along with a short section of the upper storey featuring a window jamb at the east end. On the north side, there are five deeply recessed pointed arches supported by moulded corbels for the springing of the vault. The west bay contains a 13th-century doorway, while the east bay has a later doorway. The central three bays on the south side feature blocked 13th-century arcaded windows set within a flat arch, with a quatrefoil window in the tympanum. The Dark Cloister is part of a group that includes Powcher's Hall, the Painted Chamber (Walsingham House), the Chapel of the Infirmary (Deanery), the Black Hostelry, and the Cellarers Chamber and House (Boarding House of King's School).
Local climate
The Dark Cloister sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 97% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 56% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings
- Cellarers House (Boarding House of King's School)
- Powcher's Hall
- The Painted Chamber (Walsingham House)
- The Chapel of the Infirmary (Deanery)
- The Great Hall (Bishop's residence)
- Prior's House (Boarding House of the Kings School)
- Prior Craudens Chapel
- The Queen's Hall (Headmaster's House)
- Wall to the garden of the Bishop's residence
- Cathedral of the Holy Trinity