Wells

We set out with the intention of visiting Cheddar Gorge, but when we got there it all looked a bit uninviting and after dithering for a bit decided to give it a miss, and head for Wells instead. The scenery was all very nice, though.

In Wells, we found the car park easily and walked down the High Street, populated by normal shops, and round the corner to the bishop’s palace and cathedral. We decided to tackle the palace first. There was a garden festival thingy going on at the time, but we weren’t particularly interested in that, and instead wondered around (no tour guide this time) looking into the various rooms where information was displayed, and also around the gardens, walls, and other outbuildings. It was all very historical. 

Some bishops of Bath & Wells

We left briefly for lunch in a nearby café, then went to have a look around the cathedral. It contains many features including the grave of Thomas Linley, father of Thomas Linley.  They also have a medieval clock, which is the second-oldest functioning mechanical clock in the UK, and the oldest with a face. It is in fact a 24-hour clock, and has a little mechanism which operates every quarter hour with knights jousting, and one eventually gets clobbered. It also has the phases of the moon. 

We went up some stairs to the Chapter House, which have shown the wear and tear of hundreds of years of feet going up them. 

Afterwards we briefly toured the cloister, then headed back up the High Street and then home.