The infirmary chapel, Ely, looking East

Hearne was occupied with British antiquarian subjects for much of his career. He persuaded William Byrne to work with him on a series of engravings published between 1778 and 1800 as 'The Antiquities of Great Britain', a successful venture which appealed to the public interest in history and architecture at a time when tourism was flourishing. In 1793 Hearne was elected to The Society of Antiquaries. The present watercolour was engraved for Britannia Depicta (1803-17), another project undertaken with William Byrnes. Hearne had long been familiar with the architecture of Ely Cathedral, having studied James Bentham's History of Ely Cathedral (1771) and having himself written a letterpress for the Cathedral Church of Ely (1783) in which he praises it as the most 'magnificent display of what is called Gothic architecture, as any fabric in this kingdom'. In this late watercolour he depicts Powcher's Hall (named after Prior William Powcher) on the left and the Black Hostelry (completed by the end of the thirteenth century) on the right. The hostelry served as a lodging place for visiting Benedictine monks.