Hard pressed to find a city quite like Wells, Andrew Swift explores the famous landmarks and delves into the local history to uncover its unique charm…
Wells is something of a paradox. On the face of it, nowhere could be more profoundly English than this small cathedral city set among the green hills of Somerset. Yet when you leave its narrow streets behind and wander through one of the gateways into the cathedral close, you begin to feel as though you’ve been transported to the sort of out-of-the way place you might stumble across in a little-frequented corner of northern France – not that you’re likely to find anywhere quite like Wells on the other side of the Channel.
The truth is that Wells is a place apart, a place which, as the world around it has moved relentlessly on, has ploughed a more leisurely furrow. Six miles down the road, for example, lie the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, like the relics of a lost civilisation, but in Wells the spirit of the middle ages lingers on.
Medieval Wells was a place to be reckoned with. It was the largest town in Somerset; its bishop lived in a moated palace. As late as the 17th century it still had more accommodation for travellers than Bath, and it remained a major coaching centre until the early 19th century.
What scuppered all this activity was the coming of the railways. Wells was hemmed in by high hills to the north and east, so railway engineers sought easier routes south-westward. Not until much later did a half-hearted single-track branch line open, and it did nothing to stem Wells’s decline – for which we can only be grateful. Industry and a Victorian housing boom would have destroyed what had been so long maturing and was so well preserved.
The jewel in Wells’s crown is the cathedral, which in 2019 the architectural writer Simon Jenkins declared to be the finest in England. Its west front holds the greatest collection of medieval sculpture in England, telling the story of the universe from the Creation to the Second Coming. Inside, the columns are topped by less elevated subjects, evoking medieval life in all its messy glory, such as a man with toothache, a woman pulling a thorn from her foot, and the cautionary tale – told in four carvings – of the fate of two grape stealers. Most striking, though, is the serene beauty of the cathedral’s uncluttered interior, a serenity enhanced by the famous – and unique – scissor arches which close the view down the nave. Remarkable to think that the only reason they were built was to stop the tower above them from collapsing.
It is a place to take in slowly – to explore the cloisters, climb worn steps to the chapter house, marvel at the array of medieval stained glass and join the crowd that gathers beneath a 14th-century clock to wait for four knights to spin round jousting every quarter of an hour, while Jack Blandiver, the quarter jack, chimes a bell.
Above: Vicars’ Close
Part of the reason the cathedral makes such a deep impression is its setting. Other cathedrals may be grander or more famous, but only at Wells have the surrounding ecclesiastical buildings survived, enclosed within a wall which shuts out the noisy town. Chief among them is the Vicars’ Close, built in the early 14th century to house the Vicars Choral, and the most completely preserved medieval street in England.
The close is also home to the Old Deanery and Wells Museum, which occupies the medieval Chancellor’s House and showcases the eclectic collection of its Victorian founder, the caving pioneer Herbert Balch.
South of the cathedral is the Bishop’s Palace, still home to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and still surrounded by a moat on which swans serenely glide, pausing only to ring a bell by the gatehouse when they want feeding.
Talking of swans, though, brings us to another reason people make tracks to Wells, for it was here that Hot Fuzz, with its running gag of an escaped swan, was filmed. One of the places the aforementioned fuzz attempted to capture it was in the park near the palace, although other locations are more instantly recognisable – the Market Place, for example, where Danny reverses his car into the fountain and where the final shoot-out takes place. Nearby is the High Street, where City News still does a roaring trade in Cornettos, while at the other end of town is St Cuthbert’s Church – the largest in Somerset – where the fete is interrupted by the grisly death of a local journalist. You won’t see the cathedral in Hot Fuzz, because it was digitally removed from any shots it featured in to avoid disrupting the small-town feel of the film. The Bishop’s Palace, though, was where the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance met to discuss the greater good.
Needless to say, although the Market Place and the city streets are less tranquil than the close, you’re not likely to encounter any Hot Fuzz-type incidents. Even using the term ‘city streets’ in connection with Wells seems faintly ludicrous, especially as fields and woods lie less than ten minutes walk away. In reality, Wells is a small but bustling market town, with a wide variety of independent retailers as well as a market every Wednesday and Saturday in the Market Place.
And, although it is a joy to visit at any time of year, it is especially so in the run-up to Christmas, when its timeworn charms chime so fittingly with the season. The cathedral is decorated for Advent, log fires burn in the Bishop’s Palace, its walls are decked with festive foliage and illuminations light up the gardens. And on 17 December, the regular Saturday market in the Market Place will be expanded to take over the green in front of the palace and – for one day only – become a Christmas Market.
Whenever you visit, though, a word of warning: Wells may be small but a day’s not long enough to take in all it has to offer – or to soak up its unique charm, so the chances are you’ll be planning a return visit before too long.
EXTRA INFORMATION
Wells Christmas Market: mendip.gov.uk/christmasmarket
Local shops: wellssomerset.com/local-retailers
Wells Cathedral: wellscathedral.org.uk
Bishop’s Palace: bishopspalace.org.uk
Wells Museum: wellsmuseum.org.uk
Hot Fuzz locations: geekytourist.com/2021/01/14/hot-fuzz-filming-locations-wells
Featured image: Wells Cathedral
