Walks in Somerset - Exploring Cathedral City of Wells
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Today Julia and I are exploring very briefly the city of Wells in Somerset. We have stopped en-route from our return home from Glastonbury. Clearly in a short ten minute walk around we cannot do the city justice, so will have to return in the future.
Wells is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Although the population recorded in the 2011 census was only 10,536, and with a built-up area of just 3.245 square kilometres,Wells has had city status since medieval times, because of the presence of Wells Cathedral. It is often described as England's smallest city.
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My friend Catriona was working on the Cathedral and gave me a tour while the scaffold was up. Stood next to the pinnacles on the top of the tower, walked above the ceilings over the nave and transept and went in the gallery behind the West Front. There are holes in the wall through which the choir would sing on Holy days, so it sounded like the statues were singing.
It’s funny reading the comments as I have lived in Wells my whole life and seeing people amazed by our landscapes really pleases me as to be fair I take it for granted
It is wonderful landscape.
I want to travel to such places , so bad😭
Hello, fellow wells citizen!
My bestie and I stay in Wells twice a year, we nip in and out to Glastonbury, we love the contrast of the two.
The view down the street towards the cathedral is awesome, magnificent. There are almost words. Got to get out the thesaurus.
This is one of the most wholesome videos/channels I have ever seen on this website.
Thank you.
I love British villages, churches and cathedrals.
Thanks very much for the words you did use! :)
Living very close Wells my entire life (17 years) and it being my main source for local shops and all, I never really take the time to look and appreciate the real beauty tourists such as yourself see in the city. It's lovely watching videos such as these to have another view on things I really do take for granted as they're always surrounding me.
That is understandable - we all take for granted what is under our nose. We only appreciate things when they are gone.
I have never visited the city of Wells .It is amazingly pretty .Thanks for that quick trip around Wells!
Frédéric Cioni My pleasure. definitely worth a visit. I need to go back!
I live not far from Wells it is beautiful I hope you do get time to visit
Julia has awesome hair! I'm sat watching Hot Fuzz and now I wanna visit this place! My birthday is coming up so maybe I'll treat myself to a couple days there. And hopefully a tour if I can find one :)
😯😯😯😯😯!!! Jaw dropping indeed Julia!!! Please, please Richard go back to Wells & do a proper tour!🙏 One of your history walk & talks! Pleeeaaasssseee!!!!
It is lovely there. :)
@@RichardVobes have you ever done the Lake District or the Cotswolds?
Visited Wells in 2017. Beautiful and the evensong was amazing!
It was great to see Wells, I lived in Shepton Mallet & worked in Wells, so for quite a few years I was in Wells almost every day. I had forgotten how beautiful Wells was, or quite possibly as a callow youth I didn't appreciate it. Might I suggest that when you are able to get back to Somerset, that you possibly visit during Carnival season. It is November, so distinctly chilly, but local pubs and carnival clubs will spend best part of a year building floats that are "themed" and covered in lights and they are towed in procession at night, around the streets of numerous Somerset towns, Such as Wells, Shepton Mallet, Glastonbury, Bridgewater etc. It really is quite spectacular. If you search youtube you will find some videos.
Sounds like fun!
Though this doesn't get enough views, thanks for exploring , really love to see such places
I love Wells, it's so beautiful ❤️
Absolutely Gorgeous. Was wondering what's all in Somerset, as my Grandmother was born, lived in orphanage in Batb. Thank you for filming Wells. Can't wait to be in England myself within the next few years. Lots to do in the mean time. But England is on my mind a lot. Thank you for this video.
Thanks, Carol. I hope next year to return to Somerset and film more.
you would not find such a splendid and magnificent cathedral in such a small city anywhere in europe, not even in Italy, such building belongs to much a larger city
Ah but so English that it is found in such a tiny city! That is its joy!
I've just started to watch your travels Richard and subscribed really found Glastonbury very interesting and it's great to get an insight before visiting an area thanks.
Awesome, thank you!
I heard that the street of cottages is the oldest residential street in Europe. Amazing place.
Smallest city in England, not Britain; two cities in Wales, St Davids and St Asaph, are even smaller and both are the size of villages! By the way, you should definitely explore the high street and market square of Wells next cos that's where the proper city centre is!
Beautiful. Wells my favourite City. Its worth going to see the clock when it is chiming.
Definitely!
Thanks Richard and Julia. Great to see the city. The alms house terrace was amazing.
Glad you liked it. Thanks Simon.
Planning on going to Glastonbury in September, I will definitely be popping to Wells for a look, It looks beautiful, thanks for the video. :-). Love the colour of Julia's hair. Blessings from Jersey. :-).
Have fun! And thanks for watching!
Ahh, went yesterday and it was a good day out. Happy times pre 2020 change of times.
Thank you Richard and Julia for a wonderful video
So thrilled you enjoyed it. :)
Enchanting Richard.We must all club together and hire a charabanc to Wells.
That would be lovely! :)
unbelievably beautiful - Thankyou
We are heading to wells for a camping trip at the end of this month, we will be stopping in on Glastonbury and most of the surrounding area so I have been following you on your travels to scout out the area.
Oh good show - sounds like a lovely trip you have planned. Enjoy the wonders of the area!
So so beautiful totally makes you sad to whst England turned now
Wells is a marvellous place to visit and the cathedral is outstanding. It is such a shame you did not have time to go inside so perhaps you will be able to fit that in next time because it is well worth a visit. There are some notable architectural features, including the huge scissor arch across the nave. Visit www.wellscathedral.org.uk/history/timeline Thanks for showing us this lovely city.
You are right - I do need to go back.
The "different" looking house in Vicars Close replaced one of the originals lost in a fire.
Ah, that makes a lot of sense.
Wells is truly stunning - I must go and visit when we go down there in the summer. The large gothic building to the left of the cathedral is Wells Cathedral School’s music department and much of the Vicars Close is owned by them too... (the school is one of the oldest in the world having been founded in the 10th century!)
MrGreatplum A stunning place for sure. We needed more time to do it justice!
Richard Vobes - you will just have to go back then!
I cant remember ever visiting Wells and it does look like a lovely place to spend a day. Maybe the next time I go down to the west country I will have to make a stop over there.
You must!
Ooh, I made it down there and it is as spectacular as you would expect!
Wells is not the smallest British city, that description belongs to st Davids in West Wales.
Yes, I think I should have said England's smallest.
@@RichardVobes 👍
Great video, I never realised Wells had so much history left above ground. Nice one.
Oh yes - it is amazing!
Thanks, Richard and Julia, for your interest in the lovely city of Wells! I'd just like to point out that it doesn't claim to be Britain's smallest city - it is arguably England's smallest city (on the traditional definition of a place with a cathedral church, and discounting the City of London, which is just part of the enormous metropolis); there are a couple of 'cities' in Britain smaller than Wells, including St. David's in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and Brechin in Angus, Scotland (although by the contemporary definition of a Scottish city, Brechin is NOT a city!). I rather disagree with Richard saying "You couldn't get more different from Glastonbury" - actually, they share spiritual origins (sacred wells or springs), and a long history of Christianity. Admittedly, today the town of Glastonbury is more notable for its colourful and fascinating new-age spirituality, alongside the reminders of its Christian heritage: Glastonbury Abbey (mostly destroyed in the English Reformation under Henry VIII, but with beautiful surviving remnants such as the Abbey gatehouse) was one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in the whole of England; Wells, by contrast, never had a large religious house but was established as a bishopric in Anglo-Saxon times, in 909 A.D. Please do come back to Somerset. As a resident of just 9 years, I find Somerset people to be very warm-hearted, friendly, open, and generous! The county itself is often by-passed or just 'passed through' by tourists on their way to the better-known holiday spots of Devon and, especially, Cornwall. Nevertheless, Somerset richly rewards a closer look; whether the Levels, Exmoor, the Quantocks, the Mendip Hills, or the very varied towns and villages, there's much to explore and enjoy! Sumorsaete Ealle! (The motto means "All the people of Somerset" and is a line from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 878 when they rose up under King Alfred the Great to liberate Wessex from the Danes.)
Richard, Wells is Enland's smallest city, bur St David's in Wales is the U.K.'s smallest city.
I see this every day I live here
Lovely!
The lovely Julia has nice teeth
Better than my teeth!😂
oh yeah Edgar Wright's hometown and where hot fuzz was filmed
Great video! Its a beautiful place! :)
Felt a little cheated. Not much of the Cathedral but a long walk past the Alms Houses.
"Smallest City in Britain"? Sorry - that honour goes to St David's, Wales. Even the City of London is smaller than Wells. I visited Wells many times when I lived in Dorset - it's one of the places I really miss now that I live in Sussex. I need to find some excuses to go that way again.
Yes, I have also been to St David's. Very nice place. I guess I mean't England, but I believe even that is wrong too. I am hopeless! :)
It’s the smallest in England if you take the city of London out of it...
Sad to think with such beautiful Christian buildings that Islam is the fastest growing religious confession in the UK and world and its adherents have the lowest average age out of all the major religious groups. Between 2001 and 2009 the Muslim population increased almost 10 times faster than the non-Muslim population due to the highest birth rate among the world's major religions. London closed 500 churches and opened 423 new mosques with hundreds of Sharia courts operating across the country.
Richard B. Roberts -
"Islam is the fastest growing religious confession in the UK and world a"
Which has more to do with high birth-rates (the imams don't like birth control), I fear - combined with a COWARDLY refusal on the part of The Establishment and the armies of Faux-Liberal toadies and ignoramuses, who either have NO idea about how EVIL Islam truly is (the vast mass of its ill-educated adherents are not, of course, but just rather dumb) or don't really care, anyway, since ANYTHING that is anti-CHRISTIAN cannot possibly be all bad.
""Most of this growth is due to *recent immigration* and the *high birth rate* of Muslims (five children per family on average), rather than to conversion. Still, the number of those who convert to Islam is significant" :
www.christianpost.com/news/muslims-converting-christianity-faster-than-christians-converting-islam-163855/
And, of course, QUITTING Islam is VERY difficult: attracting social and familial ostracism at the least, and the death penalty at the worst. Lovely !!!!
But, luckily - and I do NOT speak as an orthodox 'Christian' (more as a Gnostic, really) - the fastest growing religion by CONVICTION seems to be Christianity. China, for example, is predicted to be the largest Christian nation by 2030 - despite (or because of?) all the government persecution.
Putting things at their simplest.
PURE Christianity is a Religion of LIGHT and LOVE.
PURE Islam is a Cult of DARKNESS and DEATH.
It's high time we in 'The West' (formerly known as 'Christendom') acknowledged this fact, and showed Islam as much respect-and-tolerance as we grant to, say, National Socialism.
As many in Eastern Europe now seem to be doing......................
LUCEAT LUX VESTRA !
I’m not sure that’s a problem though
Sadly I fear our history is going to be wiped out by future generations if we are not diligent.
I fear you are right! Thanks for the comment. People should pay attention!
Perhaps you could expand your thoughts?
I absolutely love Richard's accent :-)
Is that a southern accent?
It's fairly south I suppose
@@RichardVobes Thanks for answering :-)
I´ll be in Somerset next month.
At first i didn´t plan to visit wells But after watching your video i think i will :-)
Wow!
Ding-Dong Bells,we are in the tiny town city of Wells! Does Julia aspire? To match her hair,to the purple robes of the choir! It really is an amazing sight! What’s it like? When lit up at night!!!
Love to see it all lit up at night! :)
Isn't Wells England's smallest City and St Davids the smallest in UK?
Almost no words ..
Not alms houses but homes of the Vicar's Choir. Interesting history if you look it up.
Oh right - I will have to look it up indeed. Lovely buildings. Thanks for watching.
@@RichardVobes Interesting video. If you look carefully you will find the Vicars Close is 10 feet wider at the refectory end so it appears to be longer. From the other end it looks shorter but I guess that's not the end they want to impress from, it really is fascinating.
Harry Potter, eat ya heart out. top videos rich la, would you come Liverpool?
Yes of course. Just need to make the journey and have someone show me round.
At the other end of the architectural spectrum, i wonder if you still get up to shrewsbury from time to time because the shire hall (council offices) are being fought over. to demolish (and make way for monotonous brick housing) or not to demolish. built in 1967 the building is the epitome of then, complete with funky concrete planters and balls outside. personally, i think this one is so 'far out' that it should be saved but it would be entertaining to know what people from further afield think.
Golly - I agree, as a 60s building it ought to be saved, but what purpose would it/could it serve. Where have the council moved to?
@@RichardVobes They have just proposed moving into part of the Pride Hill Shopping Centre at a redevelopment cost of £12.5m. Well - if it utilizes those boarded up shops it makes sense but the cost! I thought something good that came out of lockdown was that some preservation/restoration societies held their AGM on zoom and put them on CZcams. People could understand how their donations were going to be used and the transparency was encouraging. Since it is public money the public should know how their money is being spent regarding County Councils because with building work the prices often seem grossly inflated - jiggery-pokery-back-handers? I've no idea of the square footage involved but my first thought would be for the arts division of Shrewsbury College to move into the old Shirehall and possibly catering too. Then there would be display space for items to sell (other local arts and crafts too) and the catering training restaurant (it used to be called The Good Intent). If the London Road Campus has had no investment since i was there in the early 1980's, it was a bit of a dive then - post war pre-fab in places. Bulldoze some of that for building on! (Can you believe it but the only independent art supply shop in town is way out on the Whitchurch Road so entice them in with low rents). I've just looked at an aerial photo of it - massive - get the whole Welsh Bridge campus in there too and sell that off. Ofsted gave it a very poor review prior to lockdown which they tried to ban publication of. That's potentially put that bit of the world to rights! :D
@@RichardVobes the council have recently put forward a proposal to demolish the darwin shopping centre and other adjoining monstrosities no doubt and build themselves a new (monstrosity) premises in that area. nothing that has happened to shrewsbury town centre architecturally in the last 50+ years has been any good.
Let nothing perish
It’s hot fuzz
How did you manage to find a parking space😁
We found a 20 minute spot and ran like hell.
I believe St Davids is the smallest city in Britain, Wells may well hold the tittle of smallest city in England though as St Davids is in Wales, and I have been there several times.
Of course I could be wrong as Ive not checked this fact and have been known to get these things wrong in the past ;)
Perhaps someone else can confirm or otherwise?
Facts checked. Wells is in fact the 4th largest city in Britain or the UK and the second largest in England.
Smallest city's in UK
St Davids .............Wales
St Asaph ..............Wales
City Of London.....England
Wells ....................England
Source = Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smallest_cities_in_the_United_Kingdom
I’m pretty sure that st David’s is smaller but Wells is the smallest in England
See above @MrGreatPlum Wells is actually bigger than The City Of London, which claims the smallest city in England.
Have managed a couple of trips to Wells. Great place to revisit esp on market day. Thanks for the video and the memories!
(Small) city sizes can refer to either the physical area covered, or the population. Even though the City of London has a smaller population per square mile than Greater London, I bet it's higher than that of either Wells or St Davids.
St Davids is Britain's smallest city, sorry.
You should probably do some research before you visit places, you sounded a bit ignorant at times and the little purple fairy that tagged along is annoyingly weird and didn’t really need to be there. Apart from all that negativity it was an ok video. Cheers
Did you meet the Baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells...?
Yes we did.
Horrible posh place ... rip off tourists shops... you’d pay arm and leg for a pick a mix there... not my cup of tea Wells... never liked the place to tell you truth ...
Fair enough. It's not everyone's cup of tea.
They have a Greggs for you mush 😉😆