Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Gothic Wells Cathedral

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Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Gothic Wells Cathedral, Somerset, England. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.    (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Gothic Wells Cathedral, Somerset, England

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Photos of the Medieval Gothic Wells Cathedral, Somerset, England.

Built in the Early English Gothic style between 1175 and 1490, Wells Cathedral is one of the most complete early Gothic Cathedrals in England.

The New Gothic Wells Cathedral

Very little of the earlier Norman Romanesque or Saxon church remain.The beautiful Gothic stonework of Wells Cathedral has pointed arcades and fluted piers which are topped with carved capitals in a richly foliated ‘stiff leaf’ style.

The interior of Wells Cathedral has the soaring height of the Gothic style. The interior is lit by original Gothic richly decorated English stained glass windows. In most of the English cathedrals the original stained glass was destroyed during the Reformation, or by the Puritans after the English Civil War.

Wells Cathedral Gothic Statues

The facade of Wells Cathedral was built with niches to hold over 300 hundred sculptures. This reflects the Gothic style of the Early French Cathedrals like Amiens where the facade is covered in statues. Many of the statues at Wells have survived or have been restored.

The Statues of Wells Cathedral would originally have been painted and the whole of the facade would have been a riot of colour and gold. It would probably be seemed kitch to modern eyes.

Wells Cathedral astronomical clock,

Wells Cathedral astronomical clock, made in 1386, in the north transept of Wells Cathedral is one of the oldest working clocks in the world. Its original mechanism can nowadays to be found working in the Science Museum in London. The clock is one of a group of famous 14th to 16th century astronomical clocks to be found in the West of England but is unique in showing a philosophical model of the pre-Copernican universe. The dial represents the geocentric view of the universe, with sun and moon revolving round a central fixed earth.

Wells Cathedral Complex

Wells Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells and is situated at the centre of ecclesiastical buildings that include the walled medieval Bishops Place and gardens.

The lawned close that runs in front of Wells Cathedral is still surrounded by historic buildings making it one of the most complete original setting of classical buildings in England.