Wells, Somerset

Wells is a city in the county of Somerset. It is in the district of Mendip. The only other city in Somerset is the much larger Bath. In 2018 there were 12,000 people living in Wells.^[1]

Wells Cathedral is in Wells. The cathedral is very popular with visitors to Wells. The cathedral has a school attached to it. The school specializes in music (as well as normal school subjects). Timothy K. Murray, composer, was a student there.

The city of Wells is named after springs in the grounds of the Bishop's Palace.^[2]

It is the second smallest city in the United Kingdom after St Davids in Wales. The area of Somerset was known in past centuries as a stronghold of taxation avoidance and liquor smuggling (from ships wrecked on the coast). In the 18th century the Bishop of Bath and Wells used to travel with half-a-dozen armed soldiers, and no doubt they were needed. The city has been there since Roman times, indeed it was originally a Roman settlement.^[3]

1. ↑ "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
2. ↑ "Welcome to the Wells City Council website - Wells City Council serving England's smallest Cathedral City". www.wells.gov.uk.
3. ↑ Medieval town, Wells. Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2010. [1]