Wells Day Out

Another Somerset day out today, this time to the lovely city of Wells, which is only about 6 miles from Sue. I think the last time we visited we had Laura in a pushchair... which would have been over 20 years ago.  Kirsty and David had stayed over, so came too. We parked at the long stay car park over Waitrose. It was market day and we had plenty of choice of street food for lunch.

Here are a few photos.

This is one set of almshouses in Wells.. there are more.

The market.

We gor some pies for our evening meal at this stall.

Lunch was by the moat around the bishop's palace.

Vicars’ Close was built over 650 years ago to house the Vicars Choral and it has since been continuously inhabited by their successors.  Vicars’ Close is unique; physically connected to Wells Cathedral and the most complete example of a medieval Close in the UK.

The town crier was rather entertaining.

The Bishop's Palace is rather expensive to visit (£15) so we didn't go in. But we did see the local croquet club in action on the lawn inside the walls.

 

The view of the cathedral front was marred by the scaffolding, which was being taken down, so others may get the view soon. Completed in the mid-thirteenth century, the West Front has one of the most impressive collections of medieval sculpture in the western world. Hewn from local limestone from the Doulting quarry, around 300 of the original 400 medieval statues remain.

The clock dates from about 1390 and still has its original dial. 

Every quarter of an hour the jousting knights gallop around the turret.....

 

...and the figure of Jack Blandiver stikes the bells.

We were pleased to find the Chapter House, completed in 1306, was open to visitors.

The Jesse stained glass window is rightly famous. It is one of the most splendid examples of fourteenth century stained
glass in Europe. This great East Window shows the central story of the death and resurrection of Jesus surrounded by some of his early ancestors including Jesse. father of King David.

There is ornamentation everywhere. I liked this silhouette.

A lovely place for a day trip. Thank-you Sue for the suggestion. You can see more of my photos here on Flickr.