Wells





Wells, Somerset is a beautiful town in the Mendip Hills. Dominic's teacher Mrs. V suggested we visit. It is a two hour drive from our house. We are starting to lose our US sense of time and distance, anything longer than 45 minutes feels too far.





It was worth it! The clock in the above photo is the oldest clock in the world with it's original face and dials. It is a pre-Copernican design, dated between 1386 and 1392. The sun and moon revolve around the earth on the clock face. The time shows on a 24 hour dial, as well as the motion of the sun and the moon, the phases of the moon, and the time since the last new moon. When the clock strikes every quarter, jousting knights move around above the clock and the Quarter jack marks the quarter hours with his heels.

Painted detail of ceiling.

We met up with our friends Rolle and Melina and their children, Mimi and Iggy. They are having a similar adventure and we have really enjoyed getting to know them.



Photo by Matt Wiebe, some rights reserved.

 The Scissor Arches seen in the above photo are often thought to be a modern addition, but in fact were added between 1338 and 1348.

Most obvious things to do in Wells are: see the Cathedral, visit the Bishop's Palace (or at least walk around the moated building), and do not miss Vicar's Close.

The Evdemon Hogan Family

William Penn stayed at the Crown Inn in 1685!

The name of the city comes from three wells dedicated to Saint Andrew, one in the market place and two within the grounds of the Bishop's Palace and cathedral.





The outside clock face (seen above), opposite Vicars' Hall, placed there just over seventy years after the interior clock, is driven by the inside mechanism. In 2010 the official clock-winder retired and was replaced by an electric mechanism.

Facade contains 300 medieval figures.

Vicar's Close is claimed to be the oldest purely residential street with its original buildings all surviving intact in Europe. It is charming!

It was built in the 1300's to house 42 vicars that sang in the choir. 27 of the residences remain, and to this day, some of them house vicars of the choir.

It is 10 feet wider at one end, to make the street appear longer.

This home has much smaller and fewer windows, I think this must be close to the original facade.



Chapel at the small end of Vicar's Close.



Beautiful Melina and Mimi.

Homemade chocolate chip cupcakes for sale! Choose your sprinkles!



Communing with kitty of Vicar's Close