Surrounded by the tourist hotspots of Bath to the north, Dorset to the east and Devon to the west, the English country of Somerset can get a bit overlooked. But it has more than its share of historic market towns, rolling hills, windswept moors and pretty coastline – just with a lot less visitors than its neighbours. Add to that a plentiful supply of local cider and cheese and you’ve got a great spot for a weekend break..
Read more: Six alternative places to visit in England

The scissor arches and interiors of Wells Cathedral
Between the Mendip Hills and the Somerset Levels you’ll find England’s smallest city – Wells. Or if you’ve seen Hot Fuzz, the comedy-action cop film starring Simon Pegg, then you might know it better as Sandford. The film’s writer and director Edgar Wright grew up in Wells so it got a starring role on screen as a seemingly idyllic town which hides a dark secret and a higher than expected murder rate. Walking around the streets of Wells you can see why they chose it to represent the quintessential English country town. The cobbled streets are lined with medieval buildings, tearooms, pubs and old-fashioned shops.

The inside of the cathedral
In real-life Wells, there’s one building that dominates the city which you won’t find in the film – the cathedral. It had to be painstakingly painted out of every shot as it was too impressive a building to belong to a small town. And it’s the cathedral which turns Wells from a town to a city. The current Gothic cathedral was built in the 13th century on the site of an old Roman mausoleum and abbey church. Wells was given city status back in medieval times and it still keeps it now, despite only having just over 10,000 residents – 20 times less than places like Reading and Northampton which are still classed as towns.

Wells cathedral and the steps to the Chapter House
The cathedral’s imposing West Front has more than 300 sculptures carved into it, featuring everything from saints and angels to historic kings and queens. Inside there is a huge array of stained-glass windows and a medieval mechanical clock that still strikes on the hour. There’s also an unusual architectural feature in the ‘scissor arches’ across the nave. Their crossover shape was designed to brace against the weight of a tower which was added in the 14th century. You can also climb up to the Chapter House, an octagonal room where the clergy meet to discuss church business. There’s an amazing staircase on the way up that’s been so worn down by hundreds of years of footsteps that the steps now undulate like waves.

Crossing the drawbridge to the Bishop’s Palace
The cathedral isn’t the only important religious site in Wells – there’s also the nearby Bishop’s Palace. It’s been the home of the Bishops of Bath and Wells for 800 years. The bishop still lives there today, but other parts of the palace are open to visitors. First you need to cross the moat and drawbridge though. Not the welcome you’d expect from a man of the church, but a 14th-century feud between the bishop and the city meant the palace was fortified to keep out unwelcome guests. Inside you can visit the bishop’s chapel and some of the interior rooms, and outside there’s the remains of the Great Hall, though it fell to ruin after a previous bishop sold off the lead from the roof to make some extra money.

Inside the Bishop’s Palace
The palace is surrounded by 14 acres of gardens, and in among them is one of the natural springs – or rather wells – which gave the city its name. It’s these wells which were the reason that the Romans originally built a settlement in this area. Water still bubbles up at a rate of 100 litres a second, and it flows out to form the moat around the palace and on into the River Sheppey. The moat is also home to the palace swans. Not your ordinary swans, these have been trained so that they ring a bell every time they want to be fed. It’s a tradition that dates back to a Victorian bishop’s daughter – who obviously had a lot of free time on her hands. Just the sort of quirky story that make this part of the world so interesting.

The original Wells well in the gardens
The details
Wells Cathedral is open from 7am–7pm (until 6pm from October to March) and entry’s free but there is a suggested donation of £6 per person. You can also join a free guided tour every day apart from Sunday. The Bishop’s Palace is open daily from 10am–6pm (until 4pm from November to March). Entry costs £8.95 for adults, £7.95 for students/seniors and £3.95 for children 5–18. And if you’re interested in tracing the Hot Fuzz locations, you can take a guided walking tour around the city or follow this map.
36 Comments
baliinfoblog
May 12, 2015 at 9:05 ambeautiful photos, which show the England that I know and love! I think I have been to this cathedral, but it was great to read all the details. I will be back in England this summer, and will be passing through this area, so might just stop for a visit
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:59 pmIt is definitely a quintessential English kind of place! Hope you enjoy the cathedral if you make it back.
Isabel
May 12, 2015 at 2:06 pmSmall but nothing short of beautiful!
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:58 pmIt is – they’ve managed to fit a lot of beautiful buildings into a small space!
abitofculture
May 12, 2015 at 7:37 pmI agree – poor old Somerset certainly deserves a bit of credit. Great accent and county symbol too! Did you stock up on local cheese when you were there?
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:51 pmOf course! We drove back home via Cheddar so went through the gorge and stopped off at the town’s one remaining cheese shop.
Martha
May 12, 2015 at 9:15 pmSuch an interesting little wander, thank you 🙂
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:47 pmYou’re very welcome!
Thuymi @ AdventureFaktory.com
May 13, 2015 at 8:36 amInside the Bishop’s Palace looks great!
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:46 pmIt was very nice – made me wonder what the section the bishop actually lives in would be like too!
Shikha (whywasteannualleave)
May 13, 2015 at 1:25 pmJust look at those gorgeous cathedral walls! It’s a part of the country I really know nothing about but am hoping to go to Bath soon and would be nice to see if I can combine this on the same trip, as Wells looks so charming.
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:45 pmBath is not far at all so it would be easy to combine the two – a nice contrast too as Bath is lovely but it can get seriously packed!
Meagan: A Friend Afar
May 13, 2015 at 3:21 pmGorgeous photos! I love how you captured the arches and the steps!
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:44 pmThanks, I went a bit photo mad in the cathedral, it was such a spectacular space!
Darlene
May 13, 2015 at 7:39 pmThis is my kind of place. I love the story of the swans!! Great post.
Lucy
May 14, 2015 at 12:38 pmThanks Darlene, the swans were amazing, I can’t even imagine how you’d go about training one!
darwinontherocks
May 14, 2015 at 8:55 pmWells sounds like a place worth visiting !
Lucy
May 19, 2015 at 4:32 pmI knew practically nothing about it until we visited (apart from seeing it in the film!) but it was a really charming spot.
Sally
May 14, 2015 at 9:35 pmWhat a lovely cathedral. Reminds me of Rochester cathedral. I’d love to see it in person.
Lucy
May 19, 2015 at 4:33 pmI’ve not visited Rochester yet but that might have to be one for my next UK weekend trip!
Charlotte
May 17, 2015 at 6:47 pmI’ve been to Wells a few years ago because I had to sing there and I think it is a wonderful city! Also you forgot to mention that large parts of the film “Hot Fuzz” were recorded there 🙂
Lucy
May 19, 2015 at 4:34 pmYes there is a link to a map of the Hot Fuzz locations at the end of the post, it was actually the reason behind me visiting Wells as it looked so pretty in the film!
Sia Sharma
May 22, 2015 at 10:59 amLovely Photography …Your photography made desperate me to explore wells
Thanks for sharing with us…
Lucy
May 22, 2015 at 8:46 pmThanks so much!
poeticsinglemama
May 24, 2015 at 7:40 amWow – so many beautiful pictures, blown away!
Lucy
May 26, 2015 at 10:28 amThanks so much!
Vlad
May 25, 2015 at 12:48 pmSmall, but definitely beautiful! That cathedral is gorgeous, I’d love to visit it. 🙂
Lucy
May 26, 2015 at 10:28 amIt was really spectacular!
Fran aka The Speedy Explorer
May 28, 2015 at 7:14 pmI took part in the Wells Moat Boat race last year which basically involved building a boat out of plastic water tanks and then rowing it around the moat of the palace. That was one very wet day!
Lucy
May 30, 2015 at 3:14 pmThat sounds brilliant! Love these sort of weird English traditions.
Tilly Horseman
June 30, 2016 at 1:21 pmIt’s one of my favourite English cathedrals! They’re all beautiful in their own way and all just as awesome and stupendous inside, but the front of Wells is certainly superb! Thanks for a great read!
Did you see the row of almshouses while you were there? – I thought they were so pretty!
Lucy
July 3, 2016 at 12:22 amWells is so pretty. The almshouses were fenced off when we were there though for some restoration so we didn’t get a proper look – next time maybe!
Kim
January 15, 2017 at 7:29 pmMy parents used to do craft fares, selling jewellery and trinket boxes, in Wells town hall so I spent a lot of time there when I was little. Recently my partner and I went to Wells and Cheddar Gorge and spent time looking around the Hot Fuzz filming locations in Wells.
Lucy
January 16, 2017 at 10:06 amLoved looking around for the Hot Fuzz locations too – such a great film!
Nathan Wilkins
March 6, 2019 at 12:45 pmStunning photos of the Cathredral! I need to go and visit soon!
Lucy
March 10, 2019 at 5:51 pmLovely place isn’t it!