Wells was so named due to three wells, one in the market place and two in the Bishops’ Palace and Cathedral grounds. At this time these wells were thought to have curative properties!! Nestling in the Mendip Hills, approximately 30 kilometres south of Bristol as the crow flies, Wells is known as the capital of the Mendips. Wells has been home to a church since the 8th century and a cathedral since the 12th, and with only 9000 residents it has become Englands’ smallest city!!
First impressions of Wells are of narrow and winding streets, which can be noisy with traffic, but escape into the Cathedral precinct and it becomes a different place. The Cathedral, which was built between 1180 and 1340, originally had 400 statues of angels, saints and prophets rising in tiers to the twin towers of its West front, but many of these were destroyed in the 17th century. The Cathedral has an astronomical clock on its north side, dating from the 14th century, which has moving models of knights that joust every quarter of an hour. Above the cloisters, to the south of the cathedral, is one of the largest medieval libraries in England, with many documents 1000 years old. Other features worth noticing are the octagonal Chapter House and the Lady Chapel. Opposite the north porch is the Chain Gate which leads to Vicars Close, the oldest intact 14th century street in Europe. Cathedral Close has many buildings dating back to the 15th century, including the Tudor Chancellor’s House which is now the Wells Museum. Access to the Cathedral Close from the market place is through the 15th century Penniless Porch, named because paupers sought alms here from Cathedral goers. The nearby Bishop’s Palace, approached through the Bishop’s Eye from the Market Place, is one of the oldest inhabited houses in England. Its outer walls date back to 1206. It has the appearance of a castle with a surrounding moat and drawbridge. Swans in the moat ring a bell near the bridge for food. Many of the old buildings of Wells have been sympathetically restored to maintain their architectural heritage, and newer buildings are built to compliment them.
Other sites, in the city, worthy of mention are:
St Cuthbert’s Church, built in the Perpendicular style and the largest church in Somerset, is a rival to the Cathedral itself.
The Crown Hotel, a black and white fronted 17th century tavern from where the pioneer Quaker, William Penn, is said to have preached in 1685 before being arrested.
The City Arms, which had its corner rounded so that stage-coaches could take it at speed, was once the City gaol.
The Bubwith Almhouses in Chamberlain Street, built in 1436 to house ‘12 poor men’, has a large family room at the west end which was used as the Guildhall until 1779, when the Town Hall was built. Further along the street are Harper’s Almhouses built in 1713 ‘for the perpetual use and maintenance of 5 poor men, old decayed Wooll-combers of this City of Wells’.
Other places of interest within 30 kilometres:
Glastonbury, famous for its great abbey, and Glastonbury Tor, believed to be the Avalon of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
Cheddar, famous for its gorge with its towering limestone cliffs, is one of England’s most dramatic natural landscapes, and has several limestone caves, complete with stalactites and stalagmites, which are open to the public.
Axbridge, an ancient town with several historic buildings, including King John’s Hunting Lodge, an Elizabethan building which has no connection with King John!
Wookey Hole, a group of caves, through which the River Axe flows before widening into an underground lake. A well-known feature of the caves is ‘The Witch of Wookey’ a huge stalagmite.
Bath, the best preserved Georgian city in Britain.
Norton St Philip, with the oldest 15th century inn in England.
Yeovilton, the site of the Fleet Air Arm Museum.
Did you know that – there really was a ‘Witch of Wookey’? Excavations in the caves in 1912 revealed a woman’s skeleton, along with a dagger, a sacrificial knife and a round stalagmite like a witch’s crystal.
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