After a very windy night, the sky was absolutely clear and blue in the morning. We had sunlight all day! We went into Wells to visit the Cathedral. It is very difficult (and time consuming) when I have taken 260 photos for the day to choose those to be uploaded but here they are:
The impressive west end of Wells Cathedral.
A little more detail
A shoulder is a great place to sit!
The cloister
The Nave. Note the "scissor" arch. This is to strengthen the arches above the tower and was part of the original design.
The nave altar with choir stalls behind. The choir sings from here during services with large congregations.
The Nave Choir Stalls
This man rings the bell every quarter hour.
The knights joust every fifteen minutes too.
The stairs to the Chapter House. Note how worn they are by centuries of feet!
The Chapter House
The Quire and the Organ
Detail of the Quire. The embroidery was added between 1937 and 1952. There is an amazing variety all through the cathedral.
The Lectern
I think this lion at the base of the lectern has done something wrong and is hoping nobody will find out!
The Jesse Window in the Lady Chapel.
King Solomon (from the Jesse Window)
A carving in the Quire
This lace was created between 1958 and 1960. It took 8,000 hours to make.
Detail of the lace
Detail of the lace: St.Clement
Joseph of Arimathea asking Pilate for the body of Jesus.
Pilate giving permission to Joseph of Arimathea to take the body for burial.
The tomb of Lord Arthur Hervey who was Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1808-1894.
I'm not sure why he has a sleeping lion(?) at his feet but it's nicely carved!
An example of a tapestry ("Laus Deo" means "Praise God")
Detail of above tapestry
The reredos of an altar in one of the chapels
John the Baptist baptising Jesus
Naomi is Ruth's Mother-in-Law.
Not surprisingly, Ruth is Naomi's Daughter-in-Law. You can find out about them in the Book of Ruth in the Bible or you can watch a two-hour movie here.
Celebrations after Zerubbabel laid the foundation stone of the second Temple. (Refer to Book of Ezra)
Samuel anoints David
The capitals of many of the pillars have carvings.
Satoshi with a very relaxed cat who has found a warm place next to a heater.
Apart from turning over, the cat remained in place for our whole visit!
The shepherds visit the stable in Bethlehem.
Vaulting above the Nave
King Ina of Wessex (688-728)
The Cathedral from the Cloister. Just look at that sky!
A jet passed over while I was in the Cloister.
The cathedral has a medieval library. Some of the books are still chained! There were many interesting volumes, I could have stayed there for days (as long as food was brought in regular intervals of course).
Near the Cathedral is the Bishop's Palace, complete with moat.
View of the Cathedral from the palace grounds.
What a lovely tree!
A resident of the Palace.
This is the view from the back of the palace.
Another lovely tree
One of the daughters of Bishop Hervey taught the swans to ring the bell to get food. They still do so today.
Unfortunately, we discovered that the Bishop's Palace was still closed (despite what it said on the website) because of the filming so we went to St.Cuthbert's Church instead.
Another cheeky lion!
The highly-decorated ceiling
Pilate washing his hands during the trial of Jesus, showing that he didn't want to be seen as responsible for what followed.
The Jacobean font. We couldn't decide what these birds are. Can you?
There was no indication as to which very old version of the Bible is displayed in a glass case.
This mosaic window is similar to many we have seen. After the windows were smashed by soldiers at the dissolution or by parliamentarians, people who thought it mattered collected the pieces and, sometimes a very many years later, they were put back as best they could manage. Some of the cathedrals have enormous windows like this.
We made our way back to the cathedral for Evensong. The girls of the choir sang Peter Nardone's responses, the plainsong Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Tone III) and the Reger anthem Meine Seele ist still zu Gott. The girls were accomplished and well-disciplined.