Bishop
Ralph of Shrewsbury followed, continuing the Eastward extension of the Choir and
Retro-Choir, beyond. He oversaw the building of
Vicars' Close and the Vicars' Hall, to give the men, who were employed to sing in the Choir, a secure place to live and dine, away from the town and its temptations. He had an uneasy relationship with the citizens of Wells, partly because of his imposition of taxes, and he surrounded his Palace with
Crenellated Walls, a Moat and a Drawbridge.
Bishop
John Harewell raised money for the completion of the West Front by
William Wynford, who was appointed as Master Mason in 1365. One of the foremost architects of his time, Wynford worked for the King at
Windsor,
Winchester Cathedral and
New College, Oxford.
At Wells, he designed the Western Towers, of which the North-West was not built until the following Century. In the 14th-Century, the Central
Piers of The
Crossing were found to be sinking under the weight of The Crossing Tower, which had been damaged by an earthquake the previous Century. Strainer Arches, sometimes described as Scissor Arches, were inserted, by Master Mason
William Joy, to brace and stabilise the Piers as a unit.
The Baptismal Font,
Wells Cathedral,
predates the Cathedral by more than 400 years.
Photo: 22 July 2005.
Source: From geograph.org.uk,
this File from Wikimedia Commons.
Author: Gene Hawkins.
(Wikimedia Commons)
By the reign of King
Henry VII, the Cathedral building was complete, appearing much as it does today (though the fittings have changed considerably). From 1508 to 1546, the eminent Italian
humanist scholar,
Polydore Vergil, was active as the Chapter's representative in London. He donated a Set of Hangings for the
Choir of the Cathedral.
While Wells Cathedral survived the
Dissolution of the Monasteries better than those Cathedrals of Monastic Foundation, the abolition of Chantries, in 1547, resulted in a reduction in the Cathedral's income.
Mediaeval Brasses were sold, and a
Pulpit was placed in the
Nave for the first time. Between 1551 and 1568, in two periods as Dean,
William Turner established a
Herbal Garden, which was recreated between 2003 and 2010.
Queen
Elizabeth I gave the Chapter and the Vicars Choral a new Charter in 1591, creating a new Governing Body, consisting of the Dean and eight Residentiary Canons, with control over the Church Estates and authority over its affairs, but no longer entitled to elect the Dean (that entitlement thenceforward belonged, ultimately, to
the Crown).
The Clerestory (top) and Triforium Gallery (upper-middle)
above the Arcade Arches (bottom), viewed from the Nave,
Wells Cathedral.
The Triforium has a unique form
with the Arches not divided into Bays.
Photo: 2 July 2008.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The stability, brought by the new Charter, ended with the onset of the
Civil War and the execution of
Charles I. Local fighting damaged the Cathedral's stonework, furniture and windows. The Dean,
Walter Raleigh, a nephew of the explorer
Sir Walter Raleigh, was placed under House Arrest after the fall of
Bridgwater to the
Parliamentarians in 1645, first in the Rectory at
Chedzoy, Somerset, and then in the Deanery, at Wells.
His jailer, the shoe-maker and City Constable, David Barrett, caught him writing a Letter to his wife. When he refused to surrender it, Barrett ran him through with a Sword and he died six weeks later, on 10 October 1646. He was buried in an unmarked grave, in the Choir, before the Dean's Stall.
During the
Commonwealth of England, under
Oliver Cromwell, no Dean was appointed and the Cathedral fell into disrepair. The, then, Bishop went into retirement and some of the Clerics were reduced to performing menial tasks.
The 13th-Century West Front, Wells Cathedral, by Thomas Norreys.
As a synthesis of form, architectural decoration and figurative sculpture,
it is considered to be unsurpassed in Britain.
Photo: 27 October 2010.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
(Wikimedia Commons)
In 1661, after King
Charles II was restored to the Throne,
Robert Creighton, who had served as the King's Chaplain-in-Exile, was appointed Dean, and then served as the Bishop for two years, before his death in 1672. His Brass
Lectern, given in thanksgiving, can be seen in the Cathedral. He also donated the Great West Window of the Nave at a cost of £140.
PART THREE FOLLOWS
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