How long did Wells Cathedral take to build?
Built between 1175 and 1490 Wells Cathedral has been described as “the most poetic of the English Cathedrals”.
Why is there a Cathedral in Wells?
Wells, with its rich hinterland and flourishing minster church, prospered so much that it became the centre of the new diocese for Somerset in 909, when the diocese of Sherbourne was split. The church became a Cathedral or Cathedra, the seat of a Bishop.
How old is the Wells Cathedral Clock?
Wells Cathedral in Somerset vies with Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire over claims to have the World’s oldest working clock. Built sometime between 1386 and 1392 according to surviving records, the Wells clock post-dates the Salisbury one by about five years.
Does Wells Cathedral have flying buttresses?
NOTES: This drawing is one of a number made by Anthony Salvin Jnr, the son of Anthony Salvin, while a pupil at his father’s architectural practice….Wells Cathedral, Somerset: perspective view of the flying buttresses on the south side of the choir.
| Artist/Photographer | Salvin, Anthony (1827-1881) |
|---|---|
| Style | Gothic |
Who lives in Vicars Close Wells?
Who lives in Vicar’s Close Wells now? Today, Vicar’s Close still houses all twelve men of the Vicars Choral, plus it also provides residence for the organists, students, bellringers and virgers who serve the cathedral.
What is the world’s oldest clock?
the Salisbury clock
The clock, which is located in Salisbury Cathedral in southern England, was commissioned by Bishop Erghum and dates from about 1386. There was apparently a mechanical clock already working in Milan, Italy, by 1335, but the Salisbury clock is the oldest of its kind known to still be working.
Is Wells a nice place to live?
It’s not Britain’s smallest city, but this tiny Somerset treasure may well be its friendliest. It is, however, almost certainly the most beautiful, thanks to a medieval centre with a glorious 13th-century cathedral, a moated Bishop’s Palace (where you’ll find the springs that gave the city its name) and gardens galore.
Where did the Cathedral of Wells get its name?
The earliest Gothic cathedrals were built in France, and soon spread to Germany and Britain. The British town of Wells had been founded by the Romans, taking its name from the freshwater springs found there. In 1180, construction was begun on a cathedral, to be built in the Gothic style on the site of an old Saxon church.
How long did it take to build Wells Cathedral?
1175 the present Cathedral was begun. It was the first English cathedral to be built entirely in a new Gothic style and the first phase took about eighty years, building from east to west and culminating in the magnificent West Front, where 300 or so of its original medieval statues remain.
What was the first church in wells built?
While the earliest church on the site was probably wooden, the Anglo-Saxon cathedral was stone-built. Bishop Giso built dwellings for his resident priests to the south of the Cathedral and a Cloister to the north. Seven Saxon Bishops were buried at Wells and their bones were moved into new tombs in the present Cathedral.
When was the undercroft of Wells Cathedral built?
The Undercroft itself was certainly constructed by 1266, just after the completion of the West Front, but work on the staircase (1265-1280) and then on the Chapter House itself (1286-1306) proceeded slowly. Intricate sculpture had developed considerably since the early Gothic period and the Chapter House is a triumph of the decorated style.