Desktop Background Images - Wells Cathedral

The images on this page are all photographs of Wells Cathedral in Wells, England. They were taken during two visits to Wells during 2000.

More photos of Wells Cathedral, these taken on a trip in October of 2002, are available here and on my Webshots community page. I've also written up a "tour" of Wells Cathedral which you might enjoy.

Although not background images, here are some photographs of Salisbury Cathedral taken on a trip to Salisbury in April of 2002.

Click here to get to the top of this set of background image pages.

Some notes are probably in order:

1. Except as noted, none of the images are distorted (i.e. if your pixels are square then you're seeing the image in the correct aspect ratio).
2. These images are Copyright © 2000 Daniel Boulet. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use these images in any context as long as the copyright notice on each image is intact and visible.
3. The 1280x1024 images aren't quite the same as the other sizes due to the obvious fact that 1280x1024 is a 5x4 aspect ratio whereas the others are 4x3.

If you use any of these images for commercial purposes or display them on your WWW site, please include a reference back to http://www.bouletfermat.com/backgrounds/.

Here's an 800x600 photo of the front of Wells Cathedral. The Cathedral isn't anywhere near as wide as it appears in the photo. In fact, the Cathedral's Nave is only roughly the width of the space between the two tall outer towers. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Here's an 800x600 photo which zooms in on the statues at the top of the Cathedral's front facade. The Nave of the Cathedral is about the same width as the foreground of these photographs. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

The next 800x600 image is a photograph looking up one of the towers of the Cathedral. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Moving into the Cathedral's cloister, we look out through a window into the cloister's graveyard. The 800x600 image is shown here. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Here's an 800x600 exterior photo of the cloister's graveyard. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Let's step out into the garden beside the cloister for a moment. Here's a wall at the far back of the garden (sorry, no background images for this one - maybe someday). Click on the image to see through the hole in the wall.

Now let's head into the main body of the Cathedral and have a look at this photo of the Cathedral's Nave. The curved crossover arches were apparently added to stabilize the main tower after the tower shifted a few inches during the construction of the Cathedral. Now THAT'S what I call an elegant patch! I havn't found a way to create a decent looking set of background images out of this photograph.

Here's a much more dramatic view of the Cathedral's main Cross and the crossover arches. Sorry - no background photo of this one yet although I have an idea or two that I intend to try out someday . . .

This 800x600 photo is roughly the mid-point of my favourite staircase in the whole world. In fact, I didn't know that one could have favourite staircases until I saw this one. The beauty of the staircase derives from a problem faced by the builder. The stairs must provide access to two different places: the walkway to Vicar's Close (visible through the doorway in the top left of this photo). The Cathedral's Chapter House (the entrance of which is just visible on the right hand side of this photo). The problem was that the entrance to the Cathedral's Chapter House (official meeting room for the Bishop and his priests and advisors) was/is located about halfway up the stairs to the walkway. The solution was to build a roughly conventional set of stairs which leads to the walkway and to introduce a spiral staircase at just the right point to lead to the Chapter House on the right. Trust me - the effect is truly stunning! This photograph doesn't do the staircase justice but . . . If you're ever in England, Wells is worth a visit. If you're ever in Wells, the Cathedral is worth a visit. If you ever visit the Cathedral, whatever you do, make sure you check out these stairs! Vicar's Close is a street of residences for the Vicars (i.e. the Cathedral's staff) which was constructed by Ralph of Shrewsbury (see below) in the 14th century. This staircase and walkway were built at about the same time (i.e. they are about six hundred years old). One problem that I have with some of the details in the above discussion is that the Chapter House was definitely finished by 1306 and yet the building in Vicar's Close that the walkway leads to wasn't finished until about fifty years later. Without the building in Vicar's Close, there is no need for the doorway in the top left of the photo or the staircase leading to it but the Chapter House would have needed a staircase by 1306 and my detail photos of the staircase don't make sense unless the straight part of the staircase was built either before or at the same time as the spiral part (i.e. check this one out - it is hard to see how the construction visible here along the far wall would exist if the spiral stairs were built first). My reference (WELLS CATHEDRAL / A History edited by L.S. Colchester; published by Open Books Publishing Ltd of Wells; copyright © 1996 by the authors of each of the chapters; ISBN 07291 02351) is vague on this point so the issue must remain unresolved for now. I've got a reasonably good exterior photo of the walkway which I'll post eventually. I've also got a bunch of detail photos of various parts of the staircase which I intend to use with this and other photos to someday construct a web page focusing entirely on this staircase. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Walk up the stairs and into the Chapter House. Just before you go inside, turn around and look up a bit. Here's an 800x600 image of what you'll see - the oldest surviving stained glass in the Cathedral. All the other then-remaining original stained glass and most of the more recent stained glass was destroyed by the Puritans in the 17th century. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Now let's go for a walk. Head out away from the Cathedral on the Cloister side and you'll soon run into the Bishop's Palace. Walk along the right side of the Palace grounds along the moat until you get past the Palace and reach a field. Turn left, walk a few hundred yards and turn around. If you're in exactly the right spot, this 800x600 photo is of the view that you'll see. You're looking at the rear of the Cathedral. The front facade shown earlier is on the far side of the Cathedral. The part of the cathedral visible here to the far right is the Chapter House (if you look carefully, it appears to be not quite attached to the rest of the Cathedral although it actuall is attached by the staircase shown above. The white tower in is the main tower of the Cathedral and is supported by the crossover arches shown earlier. The main tower is just barely visible in the background of the earlier photo in this series that focuses in on the statuary at the top of the front facade. The stone fence in the foreground of this photo is typical of the stone fences that you'll find all over this part of England. I intend to add a number of other photos that I took on my walk but they'll have to wait for another time. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Back into the Cathedral again, let's have a look at a couple of tombs. This 800x600 photo is of the tomb of Ralph of Shrewsbury, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1329 to 1363. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Here's the first of a series of photos of my favourite tomb in Wells Cathedral (I'm embarassed to admit that although I've been there twice, I've not managed to record the name of the bishop buried in this tomb - does anyone know? Send me an e-mail!). This 800x600 image shows the tomb on a bright sunny spring day. I rather like the combination of light and darkness on this photo and the next one. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Here's the same tomb on the same bright sunny day but from a different angle. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Here's an 800x527 close-up of the same tomb showing the angels and the effigy's head. These aren't quite the right aspect ratio to completely fill your screen. Sorry 'bout that but I just couldn't bear to clip the image enough to make it a perfect fit. This photo was taken during the summer of 2000. The 1024x674 version is here. The 1280x843 version is here. The 1600x1054 version is here.

Here's a clipping from the last image showing the angel on the left. Check out the expression on the angel's face. This photo was taken during the summer of 2000. The 1024x768 version is here. The 1280x1024 version is here. The 1600x1200 version is here.

Finally, here's a floorplan of the Cathedral: