Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Market Place (Wells)

The Market Place in the tiny cathedral city of Wells in Somerset becomes very busy on Market Day.

The Market Place is, conforming to an old English custom, outside the gates of the big local establishment. In this case it is the magnificent Wells Cathedral, and the gate is known locally as the Penniless Porch.

The Town Hall contains the Council Offices, the Law Courts and the Tourist Information Centre.

In the Market Place once stood an ancient Guildhall. This was where the infamous Judge Jeffreys presided over the Bloody Assizes after the Duke of Monmouth's failed rebellion in 1685.

Alo in 1685, William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania, preached here to a crowd of 3000.

Another exit from the Market Place is known as the Bishop's Eye Gateway. It leads to the Bishop's Palace.

On the pavement is a plaque mesuing twenty two feet two and a half inches. This was the distance jumped by Mary Rand, who lived in Wells, when she won a Gold Medal in the 1964 Olympic Games.

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