Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. Built in 1176–1450 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it is moderately sized for an English cathedral. It holds the title of mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as well as the title Bishop of Bath.

About Wells Cathedral in brief

Summary Wells CathedralWells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. Built in 1176–1450 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it is moderately sized for an English cathedral. Unlike many cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop’s Palace and the 15th-century residential Vicars’ Close. The cathedral is thought to have been conceived and commenced in about 1175 by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, who died in 1191. The seat of the bishop moved between Wells and the abbeys of Glastonbury and Bath, before settling at Wells in 909. Following the Norman Conquest, John de Villula moved the seat of. the bishop from Wells to Bath in 1090. The church at Wells, no longer a cathedral, had a college of secular clergy and a choir of boys to sing the liturgy. It is a Grade I listed building and has been called one of the most beautiful and most poetic of English cathedral. It holds the title of mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as well as the title Bishop of Bath. Its Early English front with 300 sculpted figures, is seen as a \”supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England\”. The east end of the cathedral retains much ancient stained glass.

The font in the cathedral’s south transept is from this church and is the oldest part of the present building. It was built in 705 by Aldhelm, first bishop of the newly established diocese of Sherborne during the reign of King Ine of Wessex, and stood at the site of the cloisters, where some excavated remains can be seen. In 909 the seat. of the diocese was moved from Sherborne to Wells. There is, however, some controversy over this. The title of Bishop of. Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonburys claim was abandoned in 1219. Savaric FitzGeldewin, with the approval of Pope Celestine III, officially moved his seat to Glastonbery Abbey in 1197. He also had a manor house built at Wookey, near Wells, in 1239. In 1245 the monks of Bath unsuccessfully attempted to regain the authority over the bishop of Wells. This dispute was resolved by a ruling by Pope Innocent IV, who established a ruling of the ruling by a Romanraccio ruling over the title by a papal legate who was asked to investigate the situation but did not respond. He died at Wells on 19 November 1242 and was buried in the choir of his cathedral; the memorial on one of his brass brass brasses is one of earliest brasses in England. He was a brother of Hugh of Lincoln and was present at the signing of the Magna Carta.