Wells Cathedral

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cathedral Church of St. Andrew.
The west front, completed c. 1260, features about 300 mediaeval statues; many of the figures, and their niches, were originally painted and gilded
Information
Denomination	Church of England
Location	Wells, Somerset
Minister	Peter Price
Diocese	Diocese of Bath and Wells
Founder	King Ine of Wessex
Founded	705
Dedicated	1239
Constructed	10th century
Height	160 feet (49 m)
Other Dimensions	Length Total interior 383 feet (117 m) Nave 161 feet (49 m) Choir 103 feet (31 m) Main Transept-135 feet (41 m) Breadth of Nave 38 feet (12 m) Nave including aisles 82 feet (25 m) Height Nave 67 feet (20 m) Choir 67 feet (20 m) Breadth of West front 47 feet (14 m)
Floor Area	29,070 square feet (2,701 m²)
Style	Gothic
Links
Website	http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/
Portal:Christianity

Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who live at the adjacent Bishop's Palace.

Built between 1175 and 1490, Wells Cathedral has been described as “the most poetic of the English Cathedrals”.^[1] Much of the structure is in the Early English style and is greatly enriched by the deeply sculptural nature of the mouldings and the vitality of the carved capitals in a foliate style known as “stiff leaf”. The eastern end has retained much original glass, which is rare in England. The exterior has a splendid Early English façade and a large central tower.^[1][2][3]

The first church was established on the site in 705. Construction of the present building began in the 10th century and was largely complete at the time of its dedication in 1239. It has undergone several expansions and renovations since then and has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.^[4]

Peter Price is the current Bishop of Bath and Wells having been appointed in 2001; and John Clarke has been the Dean since September 2004.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Present structure 1.3 Tudors and civil war 1.4 1660-1800 1.5 Victorian era and restoration 1.6 Original records 2 Architecture 2.1 Stained glass 2.2 Fittings and monuments 2.3 Clock 3 Organ and organists 3.1 Organ 3.2 Organists 4 Media 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

There is archaeological evidence of a late Ancient Rome mausoleum on the site.^[5]

The first church was established here in 705 by King Ine of Wessex, at the urging of Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, in whose diocese it lay.^[6] It was dedicated to Saint Andrew. The only remains of this first church are some excavated foundations which can be seen in the cloisters. The baptismal font in the south transept is the oldest surviving part of the cathedral which is dated to c.700 AD.^[7]

Two centuries later, the seat of the diocese was shifted to Wells from Sherborne. The first Bishop of Wells was Athelm (circa 909), who crowned King Athelstan. Athelm and his nephew Saint Dunstan both became Archbishops of Canterbury.^[8]

[edit] Present structure

The present structure was begun under the direction of Bishop Reginald de Bohun, who died in 1184.^[9] Wells Cathedral dates primarily from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries; the nave and transept are masterpieces of the Early English style of architecture. It was largely complete at the time of its dedication in 1239.^[10]

The Bishop responsible for the construction was Jocelyn of Wells, a brother of Bishop Hugh II of Lincoln,^[11] and one of the Bishops at the signing of Magna Carta. Jocelyn's building campaigns also included the Bishop's Palace, a choristers' school, a grammar school, hospital for travellers and a chapel. He also built a manor at Wookey, near Wells.^[12] The master mason designer associated with Jocelyn was Elias of Dereham (died 1246). Jocelyn lived to see the church dedicated, but despite much lobbying of Rome, died before cathedral status was granted in 1245. He died on November 19, 1242,^[13] at Wells and was buried in the choir of Wells Cathedral.^[12][11] He may have been the father of Nicholas of Wells. The memorial brass on his tomb is supposedly one of the earliest brasses in England.^[12] Masons continued with the enrichment of the West front until about 1260.

By the time the building was finished, including the Chapter House (1306),^[14] it already seemed too small for the developing liturgy, in particular the increasingly grand processions. So, a new spate of expansive building was initiated. Bishop John Drokensford started the proceedings with the heightening of the central tower and the beginnings of a dramatic eight-sided Lady Chapel at the far east end, finished by 1326.^[15] Thomas of Whitney was the master mason.

Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury followed, continuing with the eastward extension of the quire and the retro- quire beyond with its forest of pillars. He also built Vicars' Hall and Close, to give the men of the choir a secure place to live, away from the town with all its temptations.^[16] He enjoyed an uneasy relationship with the citizens of Wells, partly because of his imposition of taxes,^{[citation needed]} and felt the need to surround his palace with crenellated walls and a moat and drawbridge.

The appointment of William Wynford as master mason in 1365 marked another period of activity. He was one of the foremost architects of his time and apart from Wells was engaged in work for the king at Windsor and at New College Oxford and Winchester Cathedral.^[17] Under Bishop John Harewell, who raised money for the project, he built the south-west tower of the West Front and designed the north west, which was built to match in the early 1400s.^{[citation needed]} Inside the building he filled in the early English lancet windows with delicate tracery.

In the fourteenth century the central piers of the crossing were found to be sinking under the weight of the crossing tower, so the "scissor arches" (inverted strainer arches that are such a striking feature) were inserted to brace and stabilize the piers as a unit.^[18]

[edit] Tudors and civil war

By the reign of Henry VII the cathedral building was complete, with an appearance much as it is seen today. Following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1541 the income of the cathedral was reduced, as a result medieval brasses were sold off, and a pulpit was placed in the nave for the first time.^[19]

Elizabeth I gave both the Chapter and the Vicars' Choral a new charter in 1591 which created a new governing body, consisting of the dean and eight residentiary canons. This body had control over the estates of the church as well as complete authority over its affairs, but removed its right to elect its own dean.^[20] The stability which the new charter brought came to an end with the onset of the civil war and the execution of Charles I. Local fighting led to damage to the fabric of the cathedral including stonework, furniture and windows. The dean at this time was Dr. Walter Ralegh, a nephew of the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. He was imprisoned after the fall of Bridgwater to the Parliamentarians in 1645, brought back to Wells and confined in the deanery. His jailer was the local shoe maker and city constable, David Barrett, who caught him writing a letter to his wife. When he refused to surrender it, Mr Barrett ran him through with a sword, from which he died six weeks later,^[21] on 10 October 1646 and he was buried in the choir before the deans stall. No inscription marks his grave.^[22]

During the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell no dean was appointed and the building fell into disrepair. The bishop was in retirement and some clergy were reduced to performing menial tasks or begging on the streets.^[19]

[edit] 1660-1800

In 1661 when Charles II was restored to the throne, Robert Creyghtone, who had served as the kings chaplain in exile, was appointed as the dean and later served as the bishop for two years before his death in 1672.^[23] His magnificent brass lectern, given in thanksgiving, can still be seen in the cathedral. He donated the great west window of the nave at a cost of £140.

Following Creyghtone's appointment as bishop Ralph Bathurst, who had been president of Trinity College, Oxford,^[24] chaplain to the king, fellow of the Royal Society, took over as the dean. During his long tenure restoration of the fabric of the cathedral took place. During the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, puritan soldiers damaged the West front, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and the furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave.^[25] The work of restoration had to start all over again under bishop Thomas Ken who was appointed in that year and served until 1691. He was one of seven bishops imprisoned for refusing to sign King James II's "Declaration of Indulgence", which would have enabled Catholics to resume positions of political power but popular support led to his acquittal. He later refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary because James II had not formally abdicated. Thomas Ken and others (known as the Non-Jurors; the older meaning of "juror" is "one who takes an oath", hence "perjurer" as "one who swears falsely") refused and were put out of office.^[26] He was forced to retire to Frome.

Bishop Kidder who succeeded him was killed during the Great Storm of 1703,^[27] when two chimney stacks in the palace fell on the bishop and his wife, asleep in bed.^[28] This same storm wrecked the Eddystone lighthouse and blew in part of the great west window in Wells.

[edit] Victorian era and restoration

In the middle of the 1800s a major restoration programme was needed. Under Dean Goodenough the monuments were removed to the cloisters and remaining medieval paint and whitewash was removed in an operation known as the 'the great scrape'.^[29] Anthony Salvin, took charge of the extensive restoration of the Quire. The wooden galleries were removed and new stalls with stone canopies were placed further back within the line of the arches. The stone screen was pushed outwards in the centre to support a new organ. Since then a rolling programme of improvement to the fabric has been continued.

[edit] Original records

Three early registers of the dean and chapter of Wells - the Liber Albus I (White Book; R I), Liber Albus II (R III), and Liber Ruber (Red Book; R II, section i) - were edited by W. H. B. Bird for the Historical Manuscripts Commissioners and published in 1907. These three books comprise, with some repetition, a cartulary of possessions of the cathedral, with grants of land dating back as early as the 8th century, well before the development of hereditary surnames in England; acts of the dean and chapter; and surveys of their estates, mostly in Somerset.^[30]

[edit] Architecture

The interior of the cathedral is based on three aisles, with stress being placed on horizontal, rather than vertical lines. A unique feature in the crossing are the double pointed inverted arches, known as owl-eyed strainer arches.^[31] This unorthodox solution was found by the cathedral mason, William Joy in 1338,^[32] to stop the central tower from collapsing when another stage and spire were added to the tower which had been begun in the 13th century.^[33] The capitals in the south west arm of the transept include depictions such as a bald-headed man, a man with toothache, a thorn-extractor, and a moral tale: fruit thieves being caught and punished.

The west façade, is 100 feet (30 m) high and 150 feet (46 m) wide with niches for more than 500 medieval figure sculptures of which 300 survive. Between 1975 and 1986 the west front underwent a major cleaning and restoration programme, including Silane coating and Lime treament for many of the statues.^[34]

The West front is composed of a yellow stone, inferior oolite, of the middle Jurassic era which came from the Doulting Stone Quarry about 8 miles (13 km) to the East.^[35]

[edit] Stained glass

Wells Cathedral contains one of the most substantial collections of medieval stained glass in England.^[36]

Many of the windows were damaged by soldiers in 1642 and 1643. The oldest surviving are two windows on the west side of the Chapter House staircase date from 1280-90, and two windows in the south choir aisle which are from 1310–1320. The Lady Chapel range is from 1325–1330,^[4] and includes images of local saint Dunstan,^[36] however the east window underwent extensive repairs by Thomas Willement in 1845.^[4] The choir east window is a fine Jesse Tree, which includes significant silver stain, and is flanked by two windows each side in the clerestory, with large figures of saints, all of which are from 1340–1345. The 1520 panels in the chapel of St Katherine are attributed to Arnold of Nijmegen^[4] and were acquired from the destroyed church of Saint-Jean, Rouen,^[36] the last panel was bought in 1953.^[4] The large triple lancet to the nave west end was glazed at the expense of Dean Creyghton at a cost of £140 in 1664 and repaired in 1813. The central light was largely replaced to a design by Archibald Keightley Nicholson between 1925–1931. The main north and south transept end windows are by Powell, and were erected in the early 20th century.^[4]

[edit] Fittings and monuments

The cathedral contains architectural features and fittings some dating back hundreds of years, and tombs and monuments to bishops and noblemen.

The brass lectern in the Lady Chapel is from 1661 and has a moulded stand and foliate crest. In the north transept chapel is a 17th century oak screen with columns, formerly part of cow stalls, with artisan Ionic capitals and cornice, which is set forward over chest tomb of John Godilee. There is a bound oak chest from the 14th century which would have been used to store the Chapter Seal and key documents. The Bishop's Throne dates from 1340, and has a panelled, canted front and stone doorway, and a deep nodding cusped ogee canopy over it, with 3 stepped statue niches and pinnacles. The throne was restored by restored by Anthony Salvin around 1850. Opposite the throne is a 19th century pulpit, which is octagonal on a coved base with panelled sides, and steps up from the north aisle. The round font in the south transept is from the former Saxon cathedral, it has an arcade of round-headed arches, on a round plinth and a cover made in 1635 cover with heads of putti round sides. The Chapel of St Martin is a memorial to every Somerset man who fell in World War I.^[37]

The monuments and tombs include:

• Robert Creyghton died 1672
• John Middleton, died c1350
• John Godelee, died 1333
• Bishop Giso, died 1088
• Ralph of Shrewsbury, died 1363
• John Drokensford, died 1329
• John Gunthorpe, died 1498
• John Bernard, died 1459
• Bishop Bekynton, died 1464
• Bishop Bytton died 1274
• Bishop Harvey died 1894
• Bishop Harewell died 1386
• John Still died 1607
• Bishop Kidder, died 1703
• William Bykonyll died c1448
• Bishop William of March, died 1302

[edit] Clock

The Wells clock is an astronomical clock in the north transept. The surviving mechanism, dated to between 1386 and 1392, was replaced in the 19th century, and was eventually moved to the Science Museum in London, where it continues to operate. It is the second-oldest surviving clock in England.^[38] The dial represents the geocentric view of the universe, with sun and moon revolving round a central fixed earth. It still has its original medieval face, and may be unique in showing a philosophical model of the pre-Copernican universe with the earth at its centre. As well as showing the time on a 24 hour dial, it also reflects the motion of the sun and the moon, the phases of the moon, and the time since the last new moon.^[39] When the clock strikes every quarter, jousting knights move around above the clock and the Quarter Jack bangs the quarter hours with his heels. An outside clock opposite Vicars' Hall, placed there just over seventy years after the interior clock, is connected with the inside mechanism.

[edit] Organ and organists

[edit] Organ

The first record of an organ dates from 1310, with a smaller organ, probably for the Lady Chapel, being installed in 1415. In 1620 a new organ, built by Thomas Dallam was installed at a cost of £398 1s 5d, however this was destroyed by soldiers in the Monmouth rebellion and another new organ was built in 1662,^[40] which was enlarged in 1786,^[41] and again in 1855.^[42] In 1909–1910 a new organ was built by Harrison & Harrison with the best parts of old organ retained,^[43] and this has been maintained by the same company since.^[44]

[edit] Organists

1416 Walter Bagele (or Vageler) 1428 John Marshal 1479 Richard Hygons 1552 Nicholas Prynne 1558 Robert Awman 1559 William Lyde 1563 Thomas Tanner 1568 Matthew Nailer 1588 John Clerk 1600 Thomas Hunt 1608 James Weare 1613 Edmund Tucker 1614 Richard Brown

1619 John Oker (or Okeover) 1663 John Brown 1674 Mr Hall 1674 John Jackson 1688 Robert Hodge 1690 John George 1713 William Broderip 1726 Joseph Millard 1727 William Evans 1741 Jacob Nickells 1741 John Broderip 1771 Peter Parfitt 1775 Robert Parry

1781 Dodd Perkins 1820 William Perkins 1859 Charles Williams Lavington 1895 Percy Garter Buck 1899 Rev Canon Thomas Henry Davis 1933 Conrad Eden 1936 Denys Pouncey 1971 Anthony Crossland 1996 Malcolm Archer 2004 Rupert Gough (acting) 2005 Matthew Owens

[edit] Media

In filming for the 2007 Doctor Who episode The Lazarus Experiment the cathedral interior stood in for that of Southwark Cathedral. Parts of the Academy Award-nominated 2007 film Elizabeth: The Golden Age were also filmed in the cathedral.^[45]

[edit] See also

• Early botanist William Turner (died 1568), who was Dean of Wells.
• William Robinson Clark Dean of Taunton and prebendary of Wells 1859–1880.
• List of Church of England dioceses
• List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom
• Diocese of Bath and Wells
• List of Bishops of Bath and Wells and precursor offices
• Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
• English Gothic architecture
• Church of England

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Ayers, Tim (2004). The Medieval Stained Glass of Wells Cathedral. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197262634. 
• Cockerell, Charles Robert (1851). Iconography of the West Front of Wells Cathedral. J.H. Parker. 
• Malone, Von Carolyn Marino (2004). Façade as Spectacle: Ritual and Ideology at Wells Cathedral. BRILL. ISBN 9004138404. 
• Reid, R.D. (1963). Wells Cathedral. Friends of Wells Cathedral. ISBN 0902321110. 

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Wells Cathedral photo album - 148 images
• Flickr images tagged Wells Cathedral
• David Nash Ford, ed., 1924. The History & Architecture of Wells Cathedral in Somerset
• The mute swans of Wells
• A history of the choristers and choir school of Wells Cathedral
• Wells Cathedral Voluntary Choir

v • d • e Anglican Cathedrals in the United Kingdom and Ireland   Church of England Province of Canterbury Birmingham • Bristol • Bury St Edmunds • Canterbury • Chelmsford • Chichester • Coventry • Derby • Ely • Exeter • Gibraltar1 • Gloucester • Guildford • Hereford • Leicester • Lichfield • Lincoln • Norwich • Oxford • Peterborough • Portsmouth • Rochester • St Albans • St Paul's (London) • Salisbury • Southwark • Truro • Wells • Winchester • Worcester 1Cathedral of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe Province of York Blackburn • Bradford • Carlisle • Chester • Durham • Liverpool • Manchester • Newcastle-upon-Tyne • Peel • Ripon • Sheffield • Southwell • Wakefield • York   Church in Wales Bangor • Brecon • Llandaff • Newport • St Asaph • St David's   Scottish Episcopal Church Aberdeen • Dundee2 • Edinburgh • Glasgow • Inverness3 • Millport4 • Oban4 • Perth5 2Diocese of Brechin 3Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness 4Diocese of Argyll and the Isles 5Diocese of Saint Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane   Church of Ireland Province of Armagh Achonry • Ardagh • Armagh • Belfast • Clogher • Connor • Derry • Downpatrick • Dromore • Elphin • Enniskillen • Killala • Kilmore • Lisburn • Maghera • Raphoe • Sligo • Tuam Province of Dublin Cashel • Clonmacnoise • Clonfert • Cloyne • Cork • Dublin, Christ Church • Dublin, St Patrick's6 • Ferns • Kildare • Kilfenora • Kilkenny • Killaloe • Leighlin • Limerick • Lismore • Ross Carbery • Trim • Waterford 6National Cathedral of Ireland

Coordinates: 51°12′37″N 2°38′37″W / 51.210348, -2.643462