A Short History of Wells

Wells is England’s smallest city, outstanding for the beauty of its setting, and for its extraordinary heritage of historic buildings, water features, gardens and open spaces. Wells has a largely unspoiled medieval urban landscape, and is a precious treasure to be cherished and cared for by visitors and residents alike.

Wells takes its name from the springs which rise in the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace, near the east end of the Cathedral. As well as being an important source of water for a local community, springs have been a focus of spiritual interest to people since prehistory, and the proximity to the Cathedral of St Andrew’s Well and the other wells suggest a long history of religious significance.



The earliest religious building yet found on the site of the Cathedral was a late Roman mausoleum. In the early 8th century King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church here. Priests from the minister would have preached in the surrounding area, and it seems likely that the very large parish of St Cuthbert Out, which is the biggest in Somerset, derives from the area served by that early minister.

By 766 King Cynewulf had granted land to “the minister by the Great Spring which they call Wells”. King Edward the Elder created the diocese of Wells from part of the former enormous Wessex diocese in 909, and St Andrew’s Church became its Cathedral. Many cathedrals were based around a community of monks, but at Wells the community was always one of secular canons, who did not live an enclosed, cloistered life but took an active role in worldly affairs.

Bishop Giso, 1061 – 88, added a dormitory, refectory and cloister to the Cathedral, but John de Villula, the first Norman bishop, moved the seat of the diocese to Bath and demolished the accommodation built by Giso. Bath remained the diocesan centre until 1244. The present church of St Andrew was built on the north side of the earlier one. Its building, which began in 1180, may be interpreted as part of a campaign to restore cathedral status to wells.



There is no written evidence of a town at Wells until the late 12th century, although the orientation of the streets and property boundaries suggests that the settlement was largely laid out on the alignment of the earlier Anglo-Saxon church before the present Cathedral was built.

By the year 1180 the city’s first charter had been granted. In 1201 the first royal charter was granted by King John, awarding Wells the status of a free borough. The rights to hold five fairs were granted to Wells by a number of medieval charters. The Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace precincts lay outside the borough, in an area known as St Andrew’s Liberty.

By the early 14th century, Wells was the largest town in Somerset, with a thriving cloth-manufacturing base and important wool and cloth markets. The Somerset textile industry declined in the 18th and early 19th centuries, but Wells survived these difficult times better than many local towns. The relative prosperity of the city of Wells was due partly to its ecclesiastical life, and also to its development as a centre of genteel society, reflected today in the elegant architecture of Chamberlain Street and New Street.