Wells Cathedral (Part Sixteen).

The Great West Front,

Wells Cathedral.

Photo: 30 April 2014.

Source: Own work.

Attribution:

Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Author: Diliff

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

In the 14th-Century, the Tower was given a Timber and Lead Spire, which burnt down in 1439. The exterior was then reworked in the Perpendicular Style and given the present Parapet and Pinnacles.[22] Alec Clifton-Taylor describes it as “outstanding, even in Somerset, a County famed for the splendour of its Church Towers”.[8]

North Porch.

The North Porch is described by art historian Nikolaus Pevsner as “sumptuously decorated”, and intended as the main entrance.[88]

Externally, it is simple and rectangular with plain side walls. The entrance is a steeply-arched Portal framed by rich mouldings of eight Shafts with Stiff-Leaf Capitals, each encircled by an Annulet moulding at middle height. Those on the Left are figurative, containing images representing the Martyrdom of Saint Edmund the Martyr.[88]

The walls are lined with deep Niches framed by narrow Shafts with Capitals and Annulets like those of the Portal. The path to the North Porch is lined by four sculptures in Purbeck Stone, each by Mary Spencer Watson, representing the symbols of The Evangelists.[110]

Stained-Glass Windows.

The Lady Chapel, Wells Cathedral.

Photo: 9 July 2014.

Source: Own work.

Attribution:

Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Author: Diliff

(Wikimedia Commons)

Cloisters.

The Cloisters were built in the Late-13th-Century, and largely rebuilt from 1430 to 1508[22][34], and have wide openings divided by Mullions and Transoms, and Tracery in the Perpendicular Gothic Style.

The Vault has Lierne Ribs that form Octagons at the centre of each compartment, the joints of each Rib having decorative Bosses.[111] The Eastern Range is of two Storeys, of which the Upper Storey is the Library, built in the 15th-Century.[22]

Because Wells Cathedral was Secular, rather than Monastic, Cloisters were not a practical necessity. They were omitted from several other Secular Cathedrals, but were built here and at Chichester.

Explanations for their construction at these two Secular Cathedrals range from the Processional to the æsthetic.[89]

The Great Organ, Wells Cathedral.

Photo: 9 July 2014.

Source: Own work.

Attribution:

Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Author: Diliff

(Wikimedia Commons)

PART SEVENTEEN FOLLOWS.