Top 10 Amazing Facts about Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral. Photo outsourced from Pixabay

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Wells Cathedral

Well’s cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in wells, somerset, England. The cathedral was dedicated to St. Andrew, the apostle of the bishop of Bath and Wells.

The cathedral is one of the iconic examples of Gothic architectural design style. The cathedral was built around 1175 to replace an earlier church which was one site 705, moderately sized for an English cathedral.

The large central tower and west broad west front are the cathedrals dominating features, making it one of the most beautiful cathedrals in England.

The cathedral has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canon, including vicars close and the bishop’s palace.

If you plan to visit the cathedral, it’s open daily from 7 am to 6 pm. Visit wells cathedral and learn more about its history and explore its beauty. Here are the top 10 amazing facts about Wells Cathedral.

1. Well’s cathedral is located in a small city

The cathedral is located in somerset wells. Well, it is the smallest city in England based on area size.

The city is located in a relatively hilly area on the southern edge of a range of limestone hills called Mendip hill.

The city derives its name from three wells within the cathedral’s neighborhood dedicated to saint peter.

2. It was the first Gothic cathedral to be built in England

Image from Pixabay

 The gothic style was hailed as one of the country’s finest and prevailing architectural design styles in early English.

Well’s cathedral construction work lasted for 300 years, and its gothic style is evident in the flatted piers, pointed arcades, and capital with foliates design.

The cathedral’s east end retained much ancient stained glass and was linked to many phases of surviving secular buildings linked to its secular canons.

3. The cathedral took three centuries to complete

Image from Pixabay

The construction of the cathedral began in the year 1175. It was begun by Reginald Fitz Joceiln.

In the 12th century, construction continued under Jocelin of Wells, a canon who later became a bishop.

The building process was halted from 1209 to 1213 when King John was excommunicated, and Jocelin was in exile. By 1234 main parts of the church were already complete.

When it was finished in 1306, the cathedral was too small for the developing liturgy and unable to accommodate the increasing grand procession of the clergy.

John Droxford initiated another building phase under master Mason Thomas of Whitney. The central tower was heightened, and the west tower was completed after John Harwell raised money for the completion.

After about three centuries after the stone was laid, the cathedral was completely built.

4. The cathedral was built on the site of an ancient Roman Mausoleum

The history of the earliest remaining structure on the site where the cathedral was built dates back to the late Roman era. These remains were discovered during an excavation in 1980.

An Abbey church on the site was built in 705 by Aldhem first bishop of the newly established dioceses of Sherbon, during the reign of King Ine of Wessex.

During that time, the building was then dedicated to St. Andrew. The cathedral was built to help wells attain city status because of its quality and structure.

5. The wells cathedral bells are the heaviest in the world

Image from Wikimedia Commons

The cathedral is equipped with ten bells and has the heaviest ring of ten bells in the world.

Harwell’s tenor bell weighs 2,858 kg and is the main reason the bells produce the heavy ring. The bells ring in the English style of change ringing and are hung for full circle ringing.

The bells are now hung in the southwest tower, although some were initially hung in the central tower.

6. Multiple historic buildings adjoin the cathedral in wells

Well’s cathedral has been designated a Grade I building due to its extended history and outstanding gothic architecture.

One of the fantastic facts about wells cathedral is that several adjoining buildings can be described as part of the cathedral complex.

These buildings include the bishop’s palace and bishop’s place, constructed in the 13th century. The bishop’s palace is out of the ordinary for an ecclesiastical building.

Also, another adjoining building is the vicar’s close, built during the 14th century and has a length of 460 feet.

7. The cathedral’s most prominent features are the west front and central tower

A master mason William Wynford, an expert in gothic style, was hired to complete the west front.

The west front is its most significant feature, with 300 sculptures that decorate it. The west front is exceptionally broad. Many statues that decorate it were damaged during the man mouth rebellion in the 17th century.

In the late 20th century, the compressive renovation was undertaken, restoring the statues of the west front.

The central tower exterior is constructed in the perpendicular style and has a present parapet and pinnacle, making it outstanding in somerset.

8. The wells cathedral interior is heavily decorated

Photo outsourced from Wikimedia

The interior is decorated with various carvings and the most incredible sets of misericords in all of England. One remarkable feature is the saint Andrews cross arches. These two adjoining arches were designed in a way to support the piers of the crossing on three sides.

The cathedrals arcade takes the form of the naive, choir, and transepts distinguishably richness of both molding and carving. Each pair of the arcade has surface enrichment of 24 slender shafts in eight groups of three raising beyond the capitals.

The capitals are remarkable in stiff-leaf style, which consists of the vitality of the stylized foliage. Each capital is different, and some have small figures illustrating narratives.

9. Wells cathedral has a fascinating chapter house

The building of the chapter house began in the late 13th century and was completed in 1310, with its main chambers resting on an undercroft.

The chapter house has a two-storeyed structure and can be accessed using staircases. Its interior is described as architecturally the most beautiful in England. The central column space is designed, giving an effect associated with a great palm tree.

Its windows are large, and beneath them are 51 stalls, the canopies animated by carvings, including many heads carved light-heartedly.

10. Well’s cathedral incorporates medieval stained glass in England

Image from Wikimedia

In 1642 and 1643, parliamentary troops damaged the glass, but the oldest surviving glass date from the 13th century and is found in two windows on the west side of the chapter house staircase.

The lady chapel contains five windows that date from 1325 to 1330, and the east window was restored to its original resemblance by Thomas Willment in 1845.

The east window is popularly named the golden window because it combines yellow and green glass.