A palace worthy of a bishop

Encircled by water in the shadow of its cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace at Wells is a captivating survival. John Goodall looks at the history of this outstanding building 800 years after its construction

- John Goodall

ON October 23, 1239, Jocelin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, dedicated the newly completed cathedral church at Wells. Work to this new Gothic building had been underway since the late 12th century and the ceremony must have had enormous personal significance for Jocelin; he had been born and educated in the city, served as a canon here from 1200 and been consecrated bishop in 1206. His contribution to Wells, however, ran even deeper than these details of his life might suggest.

Over the course of the 12th century, there had been disagreement about where the bishopric of Somerset should be based, whether at Wells or at one of two great Benedictine abbeys at Glastonbury and Bath. In 1218, Jocelin abandoned a longrunning battle to foist the bishopric on Glastonbury and instead made Bath and Wells his joint cathedrals (COUNTRY LIFE, December 13/20, 2017).

The timing of this decision was no coincidence. England was just emerging from interdict and civil war and, no less importantly, the church itself was possessed of a new sense of purpose in the aftermath of the great Lateran Council in 1215.

These wider events decisively divided Jocelin’s rule into two periods. His early career, which culminated in his consecration as bishop, was typical of an ambitious clerk in royal service (his brother, Hugh, followed a similar course and was elected Bishop of Lincoln in 1209). His family connections and success, moreover, probably explain why, as a new bishop in 1207, he secured a royal licence to create a hunting park to the south of Wells. It was perhaps attached to an existing episcopal residence here.