Have you heard of Bath in southern England? It’s in the movies, it’s famous and it’s beautiful. The Roman baths are world renowned, the circus (curved street front) is stunning and the buildings are majestic.
Okay, have you heard of Wells? I hadn’t until recently when a friend showed me a documentary on how sites were probably chosen for cathedrals. The documentary included the Wells cathedral and showed a picture of a well on the property. It stuck with me. So, when we were heading to southwest England, I was keen to visit Wells cathedral and visit the well.
We arrived and had a late lunch in a restaurant with outdoor seating at The Ancient Gatehouse Hotel. That seemed a fitting start. Sitting there, looking at the huge green in front of the cathedral; we watched the artists scattered around the lawn who were capturing the cathedral or the buildings along the street. We marvelled at this beautiful town.
As we got our tickets, we didn’t have time to include the Bishop’s Palace, so we headed in and joined a tour. The cathedral had a light air about it and some wonderful stories. The steps to the chapterhouse were worn from centuries of use. We learnt that the cathedral had been without monks which preserved it from the destruction that so many other cathedrals experienced when the struggle between the church of Rome and the church of England was at its peak.
When it was time to go, I asked where the well was located. The ticket man answered that there is more than one well and they are in the grounds of the Bishop’s Palace. Oh no! We didn’t have time to go there. I resigned myself to missing the other half of what I wanted to see and we left. Though I did comment as we drove away that perhaps we could come back tomorrow and visit the Bishop’s Palace.
The next morning, my sister, mother and I, visited specific places around Somerset to experience where our ancestors lived. What we found as we went around is that many of the communities had churches that were part of the diocese of Bath and Wells. This was the connection we needed to return.
By the end of the day, we were back in Wells having a late lunch in the marketplace. Mum sat outside beside the moat while the two of us went in and took a tour of the grounds. I wanted to see those wells!
It turns out that the water springs up from an underground river. When the area was first gifted to the bishop, the whole area was marshy. The property has been developed to manage the waterflow. In the 18oo’s a waterwheel and pipes were installed to provide water for the whole town. Now, the gardeners can manage storm water through the moat and sluices, it’s an amazing place. If you visit, there is one shop in town which has a glass panel in the floor that you can look through and see the underground river flowing.
As we left Wells for the second time, we travelled through Bath to get to our accommodation. The contrast was stark. Bath is spacious and complicated and carries prestige. I wondered why the Bishop of Bath and Wells lives in Wells when Bath is so grand. But Bath no longer has a cathedral.
Wells has a smaller feel to it and the roads are narrow, but its beauty is outstanding. Wells has the cathedral and the wells and the palace and the bishop.
Bath has the Roman element to draw the masses, but I appreciate the understated history that is Wells.
