The eastern walk of the Cloister and the Library above date from between 1407 and 1424; and the western and southern Cloister walks, between 1443 and 1464.
“Late researches have shown that Bishop Reginald began the present church and that the Early English work should be divided into four periods: (1) The three western arches of the choir, with the four western bays of its aisles, the transepts and the four eastern bays of the nave, which are Reginald’s work (1174-1191), and so early as to be still in a state of transition from the Norman. It is a unique example of transitional building, and Willis calls it ‘an improved Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, but distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness and severity.’ The characteristics of this late Twelfth Century work are bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some with traces of the classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful imagery that reminds us of the Norman work of Glastonbury; while in the north porch, which must be the earliest of all, we even find the zigzag Norman moulding. (2) The rest of the nave, which was finished in Jocelin’s time—that is to say, in the first half of the Thirteenth Century—preserves the main characteristics of the earlier work, though the flowing sculptured foliage becomes more naturalistic, and lacks the quaint intermingling of figure subjects. (3) The west front, which is Jocelin’s work, and alone can claim to be of pure Early English style. (4) The chapter-house crypt, which is so late as to be almost Transitional, though, curiously enough, it contains the characteristic Early English dog-tooth moulding which is found nowhere else except in the west window. From this, we reach the Early Decorated of the staircase, the full Decorated of the chapter-house itself, the later Decorated of the Lady-Chapel, the transitional Decorated of the presbytery, and the full Perpendicular of the western towers. Much of the masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and even in the eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines which are the marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of course, prove that any part of Bishop Robert’s church is standing, for mediæval builders were notoriously economical in using up old masonry, but it does show that there are more remains of his work in the building than was generally supposed.”—(P. D.)
The Cathedral was much damaged during the Reformation and also during Monmouth’s rebellion in 1685, when the Duke’s followers stabled their horses in it and enjoyed a barrel of beer on the high altar.
There is a nave of nine bays, a space under the tower, a choir opening eastward of it and two transepts (each of four bays) with aisles opening north and south. The choir from the screen to the high altar occupies six bays; a retro-choir of two bays lies behind the altar; and beyond it again is an apsidal Lady-Chapel. The west front has been much admired, but some critics consider it too heavy for the short towers that abut on it. The windows of the nave and transepts are Decorated. The windows of the choir are more ornate, although in the same style, and those of the Lady-Chapel are still more so. The central tower (Perpendicular) is entirely covered with panelling. There is no spire. On the south side large cloisters open from the south-western tower and from the western aisle of the south transept; but there are only three walks, there being none on the north side. The Chapter-House is approached from the north side of the choir by a short passage and a flight of steps: a crypt lies under it. A beautiful porch, with parvise, opens into the sixth bay of the north aisle. From the eastern aisle of the north transept the Chain-Gate passes to the Vicars’ College, a double row of picturesque houses, dating from 1360.
“The Chain-Gate, in its association with the Chapter-House and the Vicars’ Close, is unique. The incline of the steps, easily to be distinguished from without, gives the corner a character quite its own. And the entrance to the Green by this gate, with the Cathedral on one side, balanced by the varied gables and roofs of the houses opposite, is particularly striking. The exterior of the Chapter-House comes into full view; the great central tower stands boldly up against the sky; the eastern gable presents its curious apex, and the Lady-Chapel below stands like a thing separate from the rest. Beyond, and under the Chain-Gateway, an arch admits to the Vicars’ Close—a charming street, lined on either side with diminutive dwelling-houses, once the separate residences of the vicars choral. At the top of the close is a small Perpendicular chapel with a library above. The interior is profusely—almost grotesquely—decorated in a manner to remind one to some extent of those strange little oratories so frequently met with in other parts of Europe. But to many it will possess a certain charm, despite its florid adornments, not often realised in this country. The Vicars’ Hall, a considerable portion of which is of the Fourteenth Century, with additions of a tower and other features, probably by Bishop Beckington, stands at the bottom of the street and communicates through the gallery of the Chain-Gate with the Chapter-House staircase, and thus with the cathedral. By this gallery the choristers passed into the church.”—(A. A.)
The celebrated West Front
“consists of a centre, in which are the three lancets of the western window and above them a gable receding in stages, with small pinnacles at the angles; and of two wings or western towers, projecting beyond the nave, as at Salisbury. The upper part of these towers is of Perpendicular character. That to the north-west was completed by Bishop Bubwith (1407-1424), whose statue remains in one of the niches: that to the south-west was the work of Bishop Harewell (1366-1386). Both these towers, fine as are their details, have a somewhat truncated appearance; and it is probable that the original Early English design terminated at the uppermost band of sculpture. The three western doors are of unusually small dimensions, perhaps in order to leave ample room for the tiers of figures which rise above them. Six narrow buttresses at the angles of which are slender shafts of Purbeck marble, supporting canopies, divide the entire front into five portions. The whole of the statues which fill the niches are of Doulting stone.”—(R. J. K.)
Many visitors are at the first sight disappointed at the mutilated and archaic expression of the figures; but they have commanded the greatest admiration ever since old Fuller wrote: “The west front of Wells is a masterpiece of art indeed, made of imagery in just proportion, so that we may call them vera et spirantis signa. England affordeth not the like.”
The West Front should be considered as a great screen intended for the display of statuary rather than as the west termination of the nave. The stone population, numbering about three hundred life-size or colossal figures, is only equalled by that of Rheims and that of Chartres. All critics agree that these statues, so notable for their graceful draperies and spiritual expressions, rank with the contemporary masterpieces of Italy and France. They are thought to have been made by Italian sculptors at the time when Niccola Pisano was reviving sculpture in Italy under the inspiration of classical models. The kings, queens, princes, knights and nobles wear the costume of the Thirteenth Century. The other figures are prophets, angels, martyrs and “the holy church throughout the world.”
Unlike the monumental west fronts of France, with their splendid porches and doors, the doors of Wells have been compared to “rabbit-holes on a mountain-side.”