Gothic (Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular)
Years built
1176 – c. 1490,[1][2]
Specifications
Length
126.5 m (415 ft)[3]
Width
20 m (66 ft)[3]
Width across transepts
47 m (154 ft)[3]
Nave height
20.5 m (67 ft)[3]
Number of towers
3
Tower height
38 m (125 ft) (western)[3]
55 m (180 ft) (crossing)[3]
Bells
10
Administration
Province
Canterbury
Diocese
Bath and Wells (since c. 909)
Clergy
Bishop(s)
Michael Beasley
Dean
Anne Gell (Acting)
Precentor
Mary Bide (Acting)
Chancellor
Megan Daffern
Archdeacon
Anne Gell (Wells)
Laity
Organist(s)
Alexander Hamilton (Acting)[4]
From the reflecting pool in the grounds of the Bishop's Palace
Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a Roman Catholic cathedral from around 1175 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it became an Anglican cathedral when King Henry VIII split from Rome. It is moderately sized for an English cathedral. Its broad west front and large central tower are dominant features.[5] It has been called "unquestionably one of the most beautiful"[6] and "most poetic" of English cathedrals.[7]
Its Gothic architecture is mostly inspired from Early English style of the late 12th to early 13th centuries, lacking the Romanesque work that survives in many other cathedrals. Building began about 1175 at the east end with the choir. Historian John Harvey sees it as Europe's first truly Gothic structure, breaking the last constraints of Romanesque.[8] The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers bears pronounced mouldings and carved capitals in a foliate, "stiff-leaf" style.[9] Its Early English front with 300 sculpted figures[7] is seen as a "supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England".[10] The east end retains much ancient stained glass.[7] Unlike many cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop's Palace and the 15th-century residential Vicars' Close.[5] It is a Grade I listed building.[1][11]
^ abcHistoric England. "Cathedral Church of St Andrew, Chapter House and Cloisters (1382901)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
^"Wells Cathedral – Wells, Somerset". Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
^ abcdef"Dates and Dimensions" (Word). Wells Cathedral. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
^"Organists". Wells Cathedral. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
^ abSwaan 1984, pp. 188–196.
^Oggins, Robin. Cathedrals Archived 4 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, p. 42 (Sterling Publishing Company 1996).
^ abcClifton-Taylor 1967, p. 274.
^Harvey 1987, p. 19.
^Clifton-Taylor 1967, p. 77.
^Harvey 1961, p. 63.
^Cite error: The named reference pastscape was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
WellsCathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells...
WellsCathedral School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five specialist...
The WellsCathedral clock is an astronomical clock in the north transept of WellsCathedral, England. The clock is one of the group of famous 14th– to...
Of Wells N0 6890". National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR). Retrieved 11 February 2008. "Somerset, WellsCathedral of St. Andrew, Dean & Chapter Of Wells N06890"...
other English cathedrals, including Salisbury Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral. West front of WellsCathedral (1220–1240) Nave of WellsCathedral, with its...
who was bishop of Wells from 1061 to 1088, introduced it into England, and imposed its observance on the clergy of his cathedral church, but it was not...
Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Wells, British...
portal of Chartres Cathedral (13th century) Gallery of Kings and Saints on the façade of WellsCathedral (13th century) Amiens Cathedral, tympanum detail...
logo is based on WellsCathedral in Somerset. The original owners of the brand, Mendip Foods, were based in the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset. Dairy...
as a sometime cathedral of a bishop. After long contention between churchmen in Bath and Wells the seat of the Diocese of Bath and Wells was later consolidated...
later to Canada. Upon their return to England, he was educated at WellsCathedral School as a boarding pupil. After failing his initial A-levels in his...
and the cathedral are all located in Wells. The diocese is not referred to as Bath diocese or Wells diocese, but as The Diocese of Bath and Wells. The ordinary...
colleague of the master mason Thomas Witney, and took over his work at WellsCathedral in 1329. Joy extended the choir and retrochoir and designed the choir...
co-cathedral of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, along with WellsCathedral. Although a large church, architecturally it does not fit the cathedral tradition...
architecture). The first cathedral in England to be both planned and built entirely in the Gothic style was WellsCathedral, begun in 1175. Other features...
father worked for Clarks Shoes in Street, Somerset. He was educated at WellsCathedral School, followed by Kingswood School in Bath. He won a scholarship...
original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2007. "WellsCathedral School". WellsCathedral School. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007...
adorned with decoration, with one of the best examples provided by the WellsCathedral. Strainer arches can be "inverted" (upside-down) while remaining structural...
Christ Church Cathedral School Salisbury – Salisbury Cathedral School Southwell – The Minster School, Southwell Wells – WellsCathedral School Winchester...
in place in the Corona Chapel at the eastern end of the building. WellsCathedral has a rare example of an intact 14th-century Jesse Tree window which...
Cathedral. The work of the Pisanos carried Italian sculpture from the Gothic age to the Roman models of the Renaissance. The gable of WellsCathedral...
raised to the bishopric of Bath and Wells in 1593. In 1604 he bought the manor of Hutton, Somerset, east of Wells and to the west of the Mendip Hills...
found in Canterbury Cathedral, WellsCathedral, York Minster and Westminster Abbey. Seth and Adam Window, from Canterbury Cathedral (late 12th – early...
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