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For media enquiries or more information on a particular news item please contact Sarah Moore, Visitor Service Manager on 01749 988111.
Jumping jesters, stories of fire-breathing dragons, harps drifting across the evening’s air and a beautiful lantern parade - Museums at Night evening extravaganza comes to The Bishop’s Palace
The Bishop’s Palace is opening its medieval doors in an afterhours evening extravaganza in support of this year’s national Museums at Night campaign.
‘Light up the Palace’ on Saturday 19th May will be an evening of entertainment and exploration with magical sounds of a harp drifting across the air; stories of fire-breathing dragons inside a candle lit palace building; jumping jesters; toe tapping musical performances and a light installation on the croquet lawn.
The extravaganza will reach its climax with a samba band leading a long procession of flickering, bright willow lanterns from the arboretum, through the gardens and out into Palace Green.
Make a lantern and take part in the parade
The paper lanterns are being created and decorated by children and families in a series of hands-on workshops with local willow artist, Angela Morley.
The paper lanterns are being created and decorated by children and families in a series of hands-on workshops with local willow artist, Angela Morley.
“The lantern making workshops over Easter were incredibly popular and there is a nice collection building up ready for the 19th” says Angela. “The kids have really enjoyed decorating them; we’ve got all sorts of patterns and designs appearing on them including dogs, swans, flowers and rabbits. Everyone seems really excited to come back in May and have their lantern lit”.
Anyone who makes a lantern receives a free ticket to come back on the evening to see their lantern lit and to carry it through the gardens.
The next Enchanted Garden Lanterns workshops are on Sunday 6th, Monday 7th & Saturday 19th May and are included in the price of admission. Under 5’s are free at The Bishop’s Palace.
Get your free ticket for the evening extravaganza today
‘Light up the Palace’ starts at 7pm on Saturday 19th May and is a free event, but you must get a ticket in advance to gain entry, even if you have not made a lantern. There will be a very limited amount on the gate on the evening and over 100 tickets have already been snapped up.
‘Light up the Palace’ starts at 7pm on Saturday 19th May and is a free event, but you must get a ticket in advance to gain entry, even if you have not made a lantern. There will be a very limited amount on the gate on the evening and over 100 tickets have already been snapped up.
Free tickets can be requested by calling Moira Anderson on 01749 988111 ext 200 or by dropping into the Palace shop between the hours of 10am and 6pm.
Recent improvements to pathways and access mean this event is suitable for pushchairs and wheelchair users.
Don’t miss out on an evening of fun, great music and the opportunity to see the Palace as you have never seen it before. It’s going to be something special to remember for a long time!
For full events listings please see What's On.
New Community Garden opens Saturday 21st April with tours, activities and seed swaps
The Bishop’s Palace is transforming a previously unused space into a thriving new garden dedicated to hands-on community projects and growing vegetables, fruit and flowers to be used in the café restaurant on site.
The Community Garden launches on Saturday 21st April and visitors can enjoy tours finding out what will be grown in the beds, get involved with hands on activities and find out tips on wildlife gardening and composting. The day will be a unique chance to see the garden in the early stages of development.
Coinciding with the Royal Horticultural Society’s National Gardening Week, visitors can also sow herbs to take home as well as swap seeds or seedlings with other local gardeners on an ‘exchange table’.
“We will be involving community groups and visitors in the garden, providing opportunities to learn new skills and enjoy the Palace in a new way” says Amanda Clay, Community Gardener.
Our dedicated team of volunteers have been working hard digging secondary paths and building raised beds ready for the opening. We’ve got some great gardening tips and activities that include making plant pots out of newspaper and a seed swap”.
Produce grown in the Community Garden will be used in seasonal menus in the new café on site, The Bishop’s Table, keeping food miles to an absolute minimum. You can’t get more local that that! More green measures have been taken in the brand new Victorian style framed greenhouse that sits within the Community Garden; it has inbuilt rain-water tanks that will irrigate seedlings and plantings.
Opening up this vast area has also brought exciting new views of the east side of Wells Cathedral and the whole of the City Allotments. The Garden of Reflection will sit next to the Community Garden and is planned to open later this year.
Community Garden actvities and tours are included in the price of admission and under 5’s are free. However, the seed swap and exchange table will be located in the Stable Yard area that all visitors can access for free.
From a spear that brought about the demise of a milk-drinking dragon to a gold weathervane that survived a WWII blitz to a swift struck by lightning - church treasures are coming to The Bishop’s Palace to form a major exhibition for visitors
The Church Treasures Project, a volunteer-led initiative has created this year’s major exhibition, Treasures at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells.
Opening on Saturday 26th May, Treasures will showcase over 50 fascinating objects and artefacts that have been found in churches across the Diocese of Bath & Wells.
Expect the unexpected as this isn’t a usual display of what may be considered a treasure; the exhibition delves deeper behind the physical object to reveal fascinating stories, facts and surprises that span the 13th century to the present day.
Some objects have survived centuries, hidden from image-breakers and vandals. Others simply lost, and it’s their accidental discovery that makes them precious. Others were crafted by artists using valuable materials to celebrate the defining rituals of the church. There are even connections to past kings and bishops. Objects on display include:
Dragon weathervane, 1846, St James, Bath. A magnificent large dragon weathervane which once topped the tower of the Church of St James in Stall Street, Bath. On the nights of 25th and 26th April 1942, the Blitz arrived in Bath and few churches came through the raids unscathed; St James’ was hit on the second night. A famous pulpit on rails was destroyed in the resulting inferno as were most fixtures. Only the outer walls and tower remained standing. The dragon weathervane is one of the few surviving objects from a church so long a feature of Bath before the Second World War. The site is now occupied by Marks & Spencer’s and the foundations of St James’ Church are still preserved below ground.
Swift, 1906, St Matthew’s, Wookey. Somerset’s churches are full of monuments, but one of the most unusual has to be this. On 13th May, 1906 a violent storm struck the church just as the evening service was underway. Direct lightning strikes caused the pinnacle of the church to collapse, raining stone and timber down through the roof of the nave. Bolts of lightning shot through the church, right above the congregation and outside a fireball was seen ascending the tower and people standing near the church felt electric shocks. Remarkably, nobody was seriously injured and services resumed shortly afterwards! The only death that night was a little swift, found in the rubble the next morning. The congregation have preserved it ever since, as an expression of thanksgiving.
Replica Bishop Hervey crosier, 1882. Made by John Dando Sedding for the Bath & Wells Bishop Arthur Hervey using silver, silver gilt, rock crystal, jewels and ivory. This crosier was previously on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The Spear of Aller, supposedly from the Legend of the Great dragon of Aller near Langport, a flying serpent which breathed flames and poisonous fumes and yet, curiously was a milk addict! Finally slain by John of Aller who stabbed it with the 9 foot long spear, he then walled up its cave so its young brood starved to death.
‘St. Nicholas’ sculpture by Rachel Reckitt. The painted iron and aluminium sculpture of St. Nicholas with three money bags at his feet, was designed and sculpted by 20th century artist Rachel Reckitt and was commissioned by her friend Jane Dallas of Rodhuish. The sculpture stands at 149cm.
Funerary helmet c.1527. Stolen from a Somerset church in 1973 only to be re-discovered by an antiques dealer who took it to the Victoria & Albert museum in London after realising it most likely belonged to a church.
A Charles II bearing cloth c.1660; made of coral spitalfields silk and silver metal lace it was used to wrap around infants for baptism who were ‘bourne’ to the church, hence the name.
HMS Dulverton’s (a former mine sweeping vessel) bell that is rung each Remembrance Sunday, and at other times is used upside down as a font for baptisms - with the names of those baptised inscribed on the inside.
Fragment of Reredos, c. 1470. Reredoses were mutilated and destroyed by reformers during Edward VI’s reign that broke up the figures they contained and is a fascinating insight into a specific time in the history of the church.
The Church Treasures Project is a volunteer-led initiative to create and sustain exciting exhibitions at the Bishop’s Palace and is part of the
Palace Trust’s wider development project.
The exhibition encourages people to think about what makes something a treasure; is it something made using costly, luxurious materials? Something old? A piece of furniture or a carving? An object closely associated with an individual or something of symbolic value?
Treasures runs from 26th May to 25th November, 2012 and it is hoped the exhibition will attract thousands of visitors. It is included in the price of admission.
Palace building re-opens four weeks ahead of schedule on Saturday 31st March
Posted: Friday 23rd March
From Saturday 31st March visitors to The Bishop’s Palace will be able to enjoy the medieval Palace building once again.
The Palace building has been closed since November whilst essential improvements were made to heating, access, decoration and information resources.
“We are very pleased to be able to re-open the Palace building four weeks ahead of schedule” says Sarah Duthie, General Manager. “Our contractors, CS Williams have been working incredibly hard to complete the work so our visitors can enjoy this incredible building in time for the Easter Holidays. The Palace experience is complete again and we’d like to thank all our visitors for being incredibly patient and understanding whilst we carried out this work”.
The five month building project in the vaulted undercroft has involved painting the walls and ceiling using traditional materials and techniques; removing the carpet and installing underfloor heating and then re-laying flagstone flooring as well as electrical improvements for venue hire facilities and digital projections.
“The improvements in the Undercroft alone have transformed the whole atmosphere of the Palace building” says Sarah Moore, Visitor Services Manager. “The Undercroft is no longer a dimly lit dining room; it has been stripped back to its original state and now offers visitors a bright, beautiful, historical space to enjoy. A fascinating digital projection showing the history of the Palace is being added to the Undercroft in May.
Families can also have fun playing with various themed costumes that will be found in the Palace building, including a mini Bishop’s Cope, a Queen’s dress and medieval outfits; it’s a very exciting time to visit.”
In addition, a new lift has been installed to improve access to the first floor of the Palace where visitors can enjoy many rooms including the Long Gallery, home to a timeline of Bishop’s portraits; The Drawing Room which houses the medieval Glastonbury and Abbot’s chairs as well as the Coronation Cope, and the East Gallery which will be home to a major exhibition from May this year called, Treasures. Fascinating church objects and artefacts, many on show for the first time ever will reveal stories and secrets from within the parishes of Bath and Wells.
There are a number of exciting Easter events that visitors can enjoy this holiday, from lantern making to Easter trails around the gardens, we’ve even got a nesting dragon!
Two small paintbrushes and 240 square metres of vaulted medieval ceiling to paint!
Posted: Thursday 22nd March
The medieval Palace building at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells has been undergoing various improvements to access and heating since November and one particularly challenging task is almost complete.
The vaulted undercroft ceiling, official term ‘quadripartite vaulting’, and walls have been receiving a fresh lick of paint by experienced church decorator, Lois Raine. However, you won’t see one quick and easy-to-use paint roller in sight; Lois has been carrying out this work using only a one inch and a six inch paintbrush, a scaffolding tower and traditional paints.
“I absolutely love using traditional techniques and materials in my work” says Lois. “One of the challenges here at the Palace has been tracking which sections of the ceiling I have already painted as the very thin, watery lime wash solution is often hard to see. It can be neck-breaking work!
The distemper I have used on the walls is thicker and is worked into the cracks and crevices, rather than removing these distinguishing marks using filler. It’s not a restoration project, which means I paint over holes and cracks, I don’t fill them in so that the history and story of the Palace can still be told”.
Painting by numbers
- 240 square metres ceiling to paint
- 210 square metres of walls to paint
- 150 cups (and counting) of coffee to keep warm whilst painting in an 800 year old Palace
- 40 quadripartite vaulted sections to paint
- 20 litres of lime distemper
- 6 layers of tops worn for warmth
- One 1 inch brush
- One 6 inch brush
Over time the lime wash will be built up in applications but this initial paint job has refreshed the Undercroft at the point that it starts its new life having been stripped back to its former glory. Underfloor heating has also been installed topped with flagstone flooring. A new lift has also been installed in the Entrance Hall to improve access to the rooms and exhibition gallery on the first floor.
The Palace building re-opens four weeks ahead of schedule, on Saturday 31st March, in time for the Easter holidays. For full events listings please see What's On.
My Mondays and fabulous Fridays! BA5 resident discount days.
Posted: Saturday 3rd March, 2012
If you’re a fellow BA5 resident you can now start and end the week with some quality “you” time at The Bishop’s Palace for half the normal entry fee. Not everyone has a palace on their doorstep – it’s time to discover yours for only £3.50 or less.
‘My Mondays and Fabulous Fridays’ are the perfect remedy either side of a busy weekend entertaining guests, baby-sitting the grandkids or working through all those chores.
They’re your days at your palace and it’s up to you how you spend them.
There’s 14 acres of beautiful gardens for you to disappear in or explore, the Bishop’s private Chapel to sit in, an arboretum bursting into life with spring flowers, a café to get cosy in, a shop to pick up a special gift or perhaps it’s just time to experience The Bishop’s Palace for the first time? Something you have been meaning to do since you moved to Wells?
From April you’ll also be able to access the medieval Palace building once again, which is currently closed and undergoing access, heating and flooring improvements.
Children under 5 years old are free, so if you have little ones with you in the daytime you’ll make even more savings and your back garden just got a lot bigger for them to run around in and explore nature.
All you need to do is bring your council tax bill on a Monday or Friday and show it at the point of buying a ticket in the shop. We’ll do the rest.
Half price entry on these specific days is for BA5 residents only and the offer runs until Friday 29th June, 2012. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other disocunt voucher.
Snowdrop and crocus burst is just the start of the spring time spectacular
Posted: Monday 20th February, 2012
There’s a beautiful sight beginning to appear as hundreds of crisp white snowdrops and purple and lilac crocuses burst into life under the magnificent trees in the arboretum at The Bishop’s Palace.
“The wild crocus started to flower at the start of January which was the earliest yet, but the peak will be this month” says Head Gardener, James Cross.
“The daffodils will also start flowering soon following the mild weather in December that continued into early January, but some of the more cultivated daffodils have been flowering since November! It’s a photographer’s playground right now trying to perfect the close up of these spring time flowers”.
The arboretum has been planted with snowdrops and crocus over the last few years and they are now successfully multiplying by themselves. But the best is yet to come – daffodils, bluebells and wild garlic will all be flowering and bursting in to life on the moat banks, around the lawns and in the arboretum over the coming weeks and is sight not to be missed.
Bishop's Palace re-opens for 2012 with new free areas for visitors
Posted: Friday 17th February, 2012
Half-term proved to be a very busy week at The Bishop’s Palace, which opened its medieval wooden doors across the drawbridge and welcomed visitors into its hidden oasis once again.
The opening weekend of Saturday 11th February was a buzz of activity, with an estimated 500 people crossing the drawbridge to come and take a look at the new visitor developments.
Hundreds more enjoyed the gardens and Bishop's Chapel over the opening week following dragon trails, talking to the gardeners about the developments in the grounds and enjoying hands-on fun with a Secret Garden Explorer backpack – a new experience for families this year.
"We had a queue of people waiting to buy a ticket by 9:50am on the Saturday morning!" said Sarah Duthie, General Manager. "It was a wonderful opening weekend and it was a real pleasure talking to visitors who have been following the developments closely and have been waiting very patiently for us to re-open.
We've received incredibly positive feedback about the new café and shop building as well as the quality of our food and drink. It's going to be a great year to visit The Bishop's Palace, we have a packed events programme, major exhibitions and lots of opportunities for the community and our visitors to really get involved with and feel part of this breath-taking historical site".
Traditionally The Bishop’s Palace has opened in April to allow for a deep spring clean of the Palace building and for the gardens to be cleared and planted.
New opening hours this year will see The Bishop’s Palace remaining open daily right up until December to allow visitors to share in the developments and see the gardens evolve through spring.
However, visitors are advised that the Palace building itself is not open again until April. A restoration project is taking place inside the building that includes installing underfloor heating and flagstone flooring in the medieval Undercroft and a new lift to improve access to the first floor of the Palace. Anyone who pays for an admission ticket in the months of February, March and April will recieve a half price voucher to use on their next visit or to save until the Palace building re-opens.
For full events listings please see What's On.
Swans of Wells launches on Palace Green
Posted: Monday 13th February, 2012
There was a frenzy of media activity on Palace Green today when local and regional media were invited to the launch of a very special event taking place this year to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year.
A giant flock of sixty, decorated swan sculptures will be displayed in public locations in and around Wells from June to September this year in a free contemporary public art event to celebrate England’s smallest city.
The fibreglass swan sculptures will be sponsored by local and regional businesses, organisations and community groups and transformed into stunning works of art by a team of talented artists and craftspeople.
After a summer on the streets being admired by thousands of residents and visitors to the city, the spectacular swan sculptures will be gathered together in one giant flock for swan fans to bid their final farewells before the ‘Swansong’ charity auction in early October. Net profits from the "Swans of Wells" event will be donated to local Wells charities. For more information please our Swans of Wells webpage.