Wednesday 18 February 2009

The Bishop's Palace, Wells, Somerset

On our last visit to Wells in Somerset we visited The Bishops Palace which is situated next to the magnificent cathedral. It is a moated Palace surrounded by beautiful gardens and dates back to the early 13th century. It is said to be the most memorable of all Bishops Palaces in England.

We were doubly blessed as Phillip Jackson, a well known British Sculptor was staging an exhibition at the time. It was quite amazing as everywhere we went we came across these very unusual sculptures. Do come on round and enjoy them with us.

http://www.bishopspalacewells.co.uk/thepalace.php

Double click photos for finer details


The Cathedral from the Palace gardens
An underground well springs forth out of this tranquil water at 40 gallons a second and gives the town it's name of Wells.


































21 comments:

Aubrey said...

Those statues are pretty cool--I'd certainly not want to encounter any in the dark, though.

Vee said...

I loved the "flying" nun with the great headdress and the outstretched leg. And I also enjoyed the fluidity of the garments on one of the groups "walking" across the lawn even if they did have those hoods over their heads.

Thanks, Barbara...I'm off to follow your link.

Lorrie said...

Very interesting statues, and they fit well with the 13th century cathedral.
When my daughter visited a friend in England in 2007, she visited this cathedral.

Lorrie

Gwendolyn said...

Unusual sculptures for sure! Not unlike some headdresses I've seen in S America! Ha! It's the architecture that fascinates me though!

zetor said...

Lovely photos. The 'flying' nun is funny. It's good to look at Summer photos this dreary February day.

Willow said...

Interesting statues. We were in Wells at the cathedral in 2004. It was one of my favorite places. I remember the tea room in the cathedral was especially nice.

nanatrish said...

I love the statues. They seem to go perfect in that setting. You always go to the neatest places.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful place and the statues are wonderful.

Tea Time With Melody said...

This got me thinking of the show "The Flying Nun" It was one of my favorites. I am not Catholic but I always wanted to be a Nun so I could wear the outfit. My mom said I couldn't because I liked to sin too much. lol...

a woman who is said...

That was a really fascinating tour!
That must have been a fun day.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Barbara, this post is a special treat for me, having just read Elizabeth Goudge's autobiography. She was born in April 1900 the Tower House at Wells and they moved to the Principal's House a few years later when her father became Principal of the Theological College there. She talks a lot about Wells in the first chapter...from her perspective as a young child there. She would go visit the Bishop's Palace to visit Bishop Hollis' wife, who was a good friend of her mother's, and play with their boys.

duopastorale said...

Beautiful sculptures! I performed in the palace some years ago with my recorder consort, it's a lovely place.
This I Do...

Barbara said...

Oh, I like these modern sculptures! They are very special and look so vivid!

Knitting Mania said...

Hi Barbara...came over to your place to check out what you've been up to..

Wow, great photo's again, those amazing figurines on the lawn. And that wonderful Italian sausage and bean dish, yum!!!

I'm coming for dinner, set another place at your table.... ;)

Vicente B said...

very impressive place.

very nice pictures, and very unusual statues.

regards from the mediterranean

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Hello Barbara, thank oyu so much for a lovely guided tour. Fascinating with all the sculptures, I love them. Great to see some pictures from the English summer, lush and green, just the way I like it.

Could I then also have some of that lovely tea you are showing us...my day would be complete.

Tyra

Anonymous said...

Hi Barbara,
I found you via Suzanne. Your photographs are lovely. This feels like a peaceful place (the blog, I mean!)

debbie bailey said...

Those are really cool and not what I was expecting. They fit in wonderfully well with their surroundings.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful place. Those sculptures certainly add to the admosphere.

The remains of a bishop's palace were found in Witney Oxfordshire. I'm imagining that it looked similar.

Thank you for sharing your trip. It's good to see Summer on an overcast day.

Bishop Stone said...

I really love these statues. As our home is called bishopstone i think these would fit in to our place really well. I love the dancing nun best

Bernideen said...

Barbara: This week I watched "Mrs. Palfrey at the Clairmont"...was this place the movie?