Wells, Somerset - Cathedral Clock - RP postcard by Kenyon of Wellington c.1950s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Wells Cathedral - The Clock - real photo postcard
• Publisher:  Kenyon of Wellington for the Dean and Chapter of Wells
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, commonly known as Wells Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset. The cathedral, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle, is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. It is the mother church of the diocese and contains the bishop's throne (cathedra). It was built between 1175 and 1490, replacing an earlier church built on the same site in 705. It is moderately sized among the medieval cathedrals of England, between those of massive proportion such as Lincoln and York and the smaller cathedrals in Oxford and Carlisle. With its broad west front and large central tower, it is the dominant feature of its small cathedral city and a landmark in the Somerset countryside.^[9] Wells has been described as "unquestionably one of the most beautiful"^[10] and as "the most poetic" of English cathedrals.^[11]

The cathedral's architecture presents a harmonious whole which is entirely Gothic and mostly in the Early English style of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. In this respect Wells differs from most other English medieval cathedrals, which have parts in the earlier Romanesque style introduced to Britain by the Normans in the 11th century.

Work commenced in about 1175 at the east end with the building of the choir. The historian John Harvey considers it to be the first truly Gothic structure in Europe, having broken from the last constraints of Romanesque.^[12] The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers is enriched by the complexity of pronounced mouldings and the vitality of its carved capitals in a foliate style known as "stiff leaf".^[13] Its exterior has an Early English façade displaying more than 300 sculpted figures,^[11] described by Harvey as "the supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England".^[14] The east end retains much ancient stained glass, which is rare in England.^[11]

Unlike many English cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has an exceptional number of surviving secular buildings associated with its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop's Palace and Vicars' Close, a residential street that has remained intact since the 15th century.^[9] The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.^[1][15]

The earliest remains of a building on the site are of a late-Roman mausoleum, identified during excavations in 1980.^[15][16] An abbey church was built in Wells in 705 by Aldhelm, first bishop of the newly establishedDiocese of Sherborne during the reign of King Ine of Wessex.^[17][18] It was dedicated to Saint Andrew and stood at the site of the cathedral's cloisters, where some excavated remains can be seen. The font in the cathedral's south transept is from this church and is the oldest part of the present building.^[19][20] In 766 Cynewulf, King of Wessex, signed a charter endowing the church with eleven hides of land.^[a][22][23] In 909 the seat of the diocese was moved from Sherborne to Wells.^[15]

The first Bishop of Wells was Athelm (909), who crowned King Æthelstan. Athelm and his nephew Dunstan both became Archbishops of Canterbury.^[17] During this period a choir of boys was established to sing theliturgy. Wells Cathedral School, which was established to educate these choirboys, dates its foundation to this point.^[24] There is, however, some controversy over this. Following the Norman Conquest, Bishop John de Villula moved the seat of the bishop from Wells to Bath in 1090.^[25] The church at Wells, no longer a cathedral, had a college of secular clergy.^[25]

The cathedral is thought to have been conceived and commenced in about 1175 by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin, who died in 1191.^[26][27][28] Although it is clear from its size that from the outset, the church was planned to be the cathedral of the diocese,^[25] the seat of the bishop moved between Wells and the abbeys of Glastonbury and Bath, before settling at Wells. In 1197 Bishop Reginald's successor, Bishop Savaric FitzGeldewin, with the approval of Pope Celestine III, officially moved his seat to Glastonbury Abbey. The title of Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonbury claim was abandoned in 1219.^[29]

Bishop Savaric's successor, Jocelin of Wells, again moved the bishop's seat to Bath Abbey, with the title Bishop of Bath. Jocelin was a brother of Bishop Hugh II of Lincoln^[30] and was present at the signing of theMagna Carta. Bishop Jocelin continued the building campaign begun by Bishop Reginald and was responsible for the Bishop's Palace, the choristers' school, a grammar school, a hospital for travellers and a chapel. He also had a manor house built at Wookey, near Wells.^[31] Jocelin saw the church dedicated in 1239 but, despite much lobbying of the Pope by Jocelin's representatives in Rome, did not live to see cathedral status granted. The delay may have been a result of inaction by Pandulf Verraccio, a Roman ecclesiastical politician, papal legate to England and Bishop of Norwich, who was asked by the Pope to investigate the situation but did not respond.^[32] Jocelin died at Wells on 19 November 1242 and was buried in the choir of the cathedral;^[30][31][33] the memorial brass on his tomb is one of the earliest brasses in England.^[31] Following his death the monks of Bath unsuccessfully attempted to regain authority over Wells.^[34]

In 1245 the ongoing dispute over the title of the bishop was resolved by a ruling of Pope Innocent IV who established the title as the "Bishop of Bath and Wells", as it has remained until this day, with Wells as the principal seat of the bishop.^[35] Since the 11th century the church has had a chapter of secular clergy, like the cathedrals of Chichester, Hereford, Lincoln and York. The chapter was endowed with 22 prebends (lands from which finance was drawn) and a provost to manage them. On acquiring cathedral status, in common with other such cathedrals, it had four chief clergy, the dean, precentor, chancellor and sacristan, who were responsible for the spiritual and material care of the cathedral.^[36]