Wells

Wells is England's smallest city, at population 9,400.  It is only a "city" as a technicality - anyplace with a cathedral is called a city in England.  My family and I stayed here last year, in a B&B facing the Cathedral Green (the lawn in front of the cathedral), and thoroughly enjoyed this little Somerset village (I mean city) and its huge gothic cathedral - which is why we brought the students here this year.  The cathedral has a large number of original medieval statues on its facade (though those on the bottom level niches were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell's Puritan thugs who saw them as evil graven images).  And the interior is awe-inspiring - lit through towering stained glass windows, the unique "scissor" arches draw your eyes heavenward as you enter.  The arches were a feat of medieval ingenuity - as construction on the cathedral proceeded (1175 - 1490 ) they discovered the foundations on the west side were sinking - so they came up with the double arch to transfer weight to the east side where the foundations were firm.  This solved the problem (maybe they should have sent some of their English engineers down to Pisa to help the Italians out with their problems).  Today happened to be Market Day in town as well - so just outside the Cathedral Green we were treated to an eclectic street market.  Some of the boys tried some interesting meat dish with a very inappropriate name.  I made a purchase in the Edinburgh Woolen Mill that my wife had encouraged me to make last year.  and Michaela fell in the sewer.  Kind of.

On the Cathedral Green in front of Wells Cathedral.  The green was a former commoners graveyard, and an enterprising local named Boney Foster used to dig up bones from the decommissioned grave yard and sell them to tourists in the days before postcards and Wells coffee mugs (made in China).

The guardian of the tombs.

There were 350 school children in attendance at the cathedral having a jolly good time.

The intriguing Chapter House stairs - ghosts have been seen here....

Looking up one of the pillars to the fan shaped ceiling of the Chapter House.

Ray and Zach taking their proper seats in the Chapter House.

Brenna checks her pictures for evidence of paranormal activities.

The scissor arches that have held this cathedral in place for 700 years.

A large crucifix carved from yew by a WWII German prisoner of war in a nearby camp.

Glorious stained glass bathes the cathedral in light.

Cromwell's "troops" destroyed much of the original medieval stained glass.  Those who loved the church tried to piece it back together - resulting in a jumbled mess that reminds us of the foolishness of extremism.

The magnificent Wells Cathedral!

The English Gentleman.  Just need a pipe.