Because this well-preserved little town has a cathedral, it can be called a city. It’s England’s smallest cathedral city – the population is a little under 12,000 – with one of the most interesting cathedrals and a wonderful evensong service.
Of all the towns we’ll visit, Wells probably has the most buildings still operating as originally intended. Their is the Cathedral, as well as a large school dedicated to the Cathedral. The homes of both the Bishops of Wells and Bath both exist here as well. When one wanders, you’ll spot a number of the wells, water, and springs that helped give the town its name. Markets fill the town square on Wednesday (farmers market) and Saturday (general goods). We got lucky enough to see the market on Saturday during our morning walk and breakfast.
The city’s highlight is England’s first completely Gothic cathedral (dating from about 1200). Locals claim this church has the largest collection of medieval statuary north of the Alps. It certainly has one of the widest and most elaborate facades I’ve seen, and unique figure-eight “scissor arches” that are unforgettable. Although we missed the Evensong (Friday is their night off), we joined a small group for Evening Prayer. It evoked the memories of the Catholic services of Morning and Evening Prayer (Prayer of the Hours). It was the Church of England… something different for this Catholic… and very beautiful.
In the Middle Ages, the cathedral was enclosed within “The Liberty,” an area free from civil jurisdiction until the 1800s. The Liberty included the green on the west side of the Cathedral, which, from the 13th to the 17th century, was a burial place for common folk, including 17th-century plague victims. The green became a cricket pitch, then a field for grazing animals and picnicking people. Today, although the weather threatened and rained at times, it’s the perfect spot to marvel at an impressive cathedral.
The west front facade is simply magnificent. It displays almost 300 original 13th-century carvings of kings and the Last Judgement. The bottom row of niches is empty… they were too easily reached by Cromwell’s men, who were hell-bent on destroying “graven images.” It is so easy to imagine what this would look like on a sunny sunday morning on Palm Sunday or maybe Easter with a cast of hundreds – all gaily painted back then, choristers singing boldly from holes above the doors and trumpets tooting through the holes up by the 12 apostles.
Inside, you’re immediately struck by the general sense of light and the unique “Scissors” or hourglass-shaped double arch (added in 1338 to transfer weight from the south – where the foundations were sinking under the tower’s weight – to the east, where they were firm. The floral ceiling painting is based on the original medieval design: a single pattern was discovered under the 17th-century whitewash and repeated throughout.
Small, ornate, 15th-century pavillion-like chapels flank the altar, carved in lacy Gothic for church VIPs. The right pulpit features a post-reformation, circa 1540 English script – rather than the standard Latin. You can see where the stonemason ran out of space when carving the inscription – we’ve all been there before. 🙂 Since this was not a monastery church, the Reformation didn’t destroy it as it did the Glastonbury Abbey church.
The medieval clock does a silly but much loved joust on the quarter-hour. We didn’t get to watch the show, as after Evening Prayer they were preparing to close up for the night. The clock’s face, which depicts the earth at the center of the universe, dates from 1390. The outer ring shows hours, the middle ring shows minutes, and the inner ring shows the dates of the month and phases of the moon. Up the wall and to the right of the clock is Jack Blandiver, a chap carved out of wood in the 14th century. Beneath the clock, the fine crucifix (1947) was carved out of a yew tree.
This cathedral is a joy to explore – we just ran out of time! Here are a few more pictures to enjoy:
