Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England
Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, currently Peter Price, appointed in 2001. The present dean is John Clarke. The first church on the site was established in 705. The present building, dating between 1175 and 1490, has been described as "the most poetic of the English Cathedrals". It is moderately sized among the medieval cathedrals of England, falling between those of massive proportion like Lincoln Cathedral and York Minster, and the much smaller Oxford and Carlisle. With its broad west front and large central tower it is the dominating feature of its small cathedral city and is a significant landmark in countryside of Somerset. The architecture of the cathedral presents a harmonious whole, being entirely Gothic and mostly in the Early English style of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. While the majority of the current structures of the English cathedrals were started in the Norman period, Wells Cathedral was the first that was begun as a Gothic design. The choir at Wells is considered by John Harvey to be the first truly Gothic structure in Europe, having broken from the last constraints of the Romanesque style. The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers is enriched by the pronounced mouldings and the vitality of the carved capitals in a foliate style known as "stiff leaf". The exterior has a fine Early English façade with more than three hundred sculptured figures. Internally the eastern end has retained much original stained glass, rare in England. Unlike the many English cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has retained an exceptional number of buildings associated with its chapter of secular canons: the Bishop's Palace and the Vicars' Close, a residential street which has survived intact from the 15th century. The cathedral is designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and Scheduled monument.
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Location: Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England
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