In the gentle folds of Somerset, where the Mendip Hills yield to the green expanse of the Somerset Levels, Wells claims the distinction of being England's smallest city—a title earned not by population but by the presence of a cathedral of such breathtaking beauty that it has anchored civic life since the twelfth century. With fewer than twelve thousand residents, Wells possesses an intimacy that larger cathedral cities cannot match, its medieval precinct so perfectly preserved that stepping through the gateway to the Cathedral Green feels like crossing a threshold in time.
Wells radiates outward from its cathedral in concentric rings of architectural delight. The moated Bishop's Palace, still the residence of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, opens its gardens and grounds to visitors, where swans famously ring a bell at the gatehouse to request their meals—a tradition reputedly dating to the nineteenth century. Vicars' Close, a continuous row of fourteenth-century houses leading to the cathedral, is considered the oldest purely residential street in Europe. The Market Place, lively on Wednesdays and Saturdays as it has been since the Middle Ages, offers a commercial contrast to the ecclesiastical serenity, its independent shops and cafés occupying buildings that span five centuries of English architecture.
Somerset's culinary traditions provide rich material for exploration. Cheddar cheese—the genuine article, aged in the caves of Cheddar Gorge just miles away—bears no resemblance to its mass-produced namesake, its complex, crystalline intensity the result of months in cool limestone caverns. The region's cider tradition produces varieties from bone-dry to lusciously sweet, crafted from heritage apple orchards that paint the landscape pink each spring. Local restaurants increasingly celebrate Somerset's agricultural abundance: lamb from the Mendip hills, venison from the surrounding estates, and vegetables from market gardens that benefit from the region's mild, damp climate.
Wells Cathedral itself merits contemplation that a brief visit can scarcely accommodate. The west front, adorned with over three hundred medieval sculptures forming the largest gallery of medieval art in the world, overwhelms with its ambition. Inside, the extraordinary scissor arches—added in the fourteenth century to support the crossing tower—create a visual effect of stunning modernity within a Gothic space. The cathedral's astronomical clock, installed in 1390 and still functioning, is the second oldest in England. Beyond the cathedral, excursions reach Glastonbury—legendary resting place of King Arthur—and the Cheddar Gorge, whose limestone ravine offers both dramatic walks and the caves where the twelve-thousand-year-old Cheddar Man was discovered.
Tauck includes Wells in its English countryside itineraries, understanding that this miniature city distills the essence of English ecclesiastical and civic life into a setting of extraordinary charm. The city's small scale means that cathedral, bishop's palace, market, and medieval streets are all within a few minutes' gentle walk. For travelers who believe that civilization's greatest achievements are measured not in scale but in devotion—the patient carving of stone, the aging of cheese, the tending of gardens—Wells offers an English experience of uncommon grace.