2016 Walking Trip, Kennet-Avon Canal to Exmoor: May 18, A Walk Around the City of Wells and the Bishop's Palace

The Bishop's Palace in Wells, Somerset

He said:
We decided to spend our day looking around Wells, the smallest city in England. Having visited the main Cathedral yesterday, the main attraction for us today was Bishop's Palace. Built starting 800 years ago, it took 250 years to be in the full layout seen today. The present day bishop still resides in one wing of the palace, the rest of the buildings and grounds are open for the public to visit year round. We took two guided tours, one inside, one outside. We also examined the embroidered fabric exhibit for religious robes and furniture used in coronation ceremonies and other important occasions.
The palace is next to the cathedral which was built first, and both are adjacent to a set of fresh water springs that gave Wells its name. The pure water was thought to be magical and therefore sacred, it still flows today at a rate of about 40 gallons per second. This water eventually flows down some of the wide drainage gutters along narrow streets.

The weather held up and we only got rained on once or twice, later on, the sun actually came out.

Thursday, May 19, 2016
AM
She Said:

Lolling around in our giant, puffy bed - seems like as good a time as any to catch up on yesterday's notes.

Our walk from Stoberry House into Wells is a very pleasant stroll through the house gardens, Stoberry Park grounds (sheep grazing), Wells Cathedral School campus (which is a music school so we often hear students beautifully practicing in their rooms), then on into the Cathedral grounds and the town proper.
Yesterday, we did get rained on on our way to the Bishop's Palace, but we were, as usual, prepared with GorTex (both of us) and umbrella (me).

The Bishop's Palace is the home of the Bishop of Wells and has been for 800 years.  It was built over 250 years, with various wings added by various bishops.
Our guide (Brian, who is traveling to SFO next week to spend a week in Half Moon Bay with his cousin, then a week in Yosemite with an old school friend - small world) was interesting and funny and full of good info.
For example:
*What we thought were coats of arms were really shields that told a family name.  At that time (medieval), everyone was illiterate, so the only way to convey a name was to depict it pictorially.  Kind of like a game of Charades, but using wood carving.  "Sounds like" tree, so a carving of a tree.  "Sounds like" mount, so a carving of a mountain. So, the name is Tremont.  The shield was called a rebus.
*The Palace had many lovely stained glass windows that were installed in the 1700's.  They are composed of shards of brilliantly-colored glass from France.  At that time, France was the leader in colored glass.  Their glass beat out all other glass for color saturation and jewel tones.  Fortuitously for the Bishop of Wells, France was having a Revolution, so many of their estates and fine homes were being attacked and vandalized, so the stained glass windows in them were broken.  The Bishop of Wells bought a job lot of the pieces and had gorgeous windows designed for his Palace.
*In the Victorian era, everything got reworked and remodeled.  The big thing in that era was "fakery", meaning that if you could make something look like something else, and do it on the cheap, you were doing it in the Victorian style.  Intricately carved wood panels were really painted papier-mâché; marble columns were really painted wood, etc., etc., etc.  Everything was made to look posh, but was really fake.
*Richard I decided that on every Sovereign's Coronation Day, they should be accompanied to the coronation by the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Canterbury.  There is a room in the Bishops Palace that holds memorabilia from the last 4 coronations - a comfy seat that spectators sat on and a backless stool that QEII sat on (for hours - uncomfortable!); coronation capes worn by the Bishops (gold, gold and more gold); an Abbot's chair from Glastonbury, and a monks' chair from ?.
*In 1280, the Bishops Chapel was built and ushered in a new relationship between construction using stone and glass.  Previously, windows were small. Now, windows became soaring and huge and let lots of light in.  The chapel is awesome because of that.  (The main, giant window had been boarded over and when the chapel was restored and the boards came off, it was a revelation.).  The choir and seating benches on the sides were carved by several different woodcarvers and they were instructed to leave their marks on their respective benches.  So, we are able now to see that all the surrounding towns were represented by woodcarvers as they all carved the name of their town in their bench.  A nice touch.

A special exhibition in the Palace, The Ornate and the Beautiful, displayed bishops' vestments through the ages and really showcased the intricate and elaborate embroidery that decorated the cloth.  Stunning and amazing (and, again, lots of gold).
At the entrance to the exhibit, hanging from the ceiling, was the Herald Angel, a piece designed and built by a contemporary artist.  The frame is made from willow from Somerset, and the body and wings are silk.  A gossamer confection that sets the mood for the fabrics to come in the exhibition.  Beautiful.

Historically, the ornate decorations on the vestments communicated the wealth, power, authority and importance of the clergy.  Not so humble.
The exhibit showed vestments from the 14thc to now.
The church's vestments originated from the garments worn by the Greeks and the Romans, especially those worn by Roman high society 1st - 4th centuries.  Pope Sylvester, in the 3rd century, co-opted that costume for the clergy.  All made from silk (and, of course, gold threads).

The gardens of the Palace were also quite beautiful and elaborate and Brian was equal to the task of showing us around them, too.
At some point, some bishop decided to make the Palace even more grand and had ramparts and a moat built.
There are good sculptures throughout - a contemplative Pilgrim, a series of glass Wings (gorgeous), hidden, wooden carvings scattered about, a modern reflection garden, and, the wells.

Wells is called Wells because of the wells.
And, the three wells that supply the entire town with clear, cool, spring water are located in the Bishops Palace gardens.  (Before understanding the concept of springs, the townsfolk thought it was magic, and I'm not sure the clergy did much to discourage that thinking.  Probably a good idea to have the masses think God is magic).
In any case, the water runs constantly throughout the town, in foot-wide gutters on either side of the High Street.
Where it ran under a house, there was a "dipping pool" where the occupants could access the water for their household use.

Needless to say, after all that, the Bishops Palace was well worth the visit.

Lunch in the Palace cafe.
Then, a stroll around the Wells square where the weekly market day was in full swing.  Nice.  My only purchase was caramel and chocolate covered shortbread and a  sachertorte for last night's dessert.  Yum.

Today we are off to Exmoor, and another 5 days of walking.  The adventure continues.

Total Mileage:
4.11 miles (in and around Wells)

The garden at our B&B