Chapters in the Early History of the Church of Wells,
A.D. 1138- 1838. By the Rev. C. M. Church. (Elliot Stock.)—A little more
than twenty-five years ago Professor Freeman, when lecturing on
the history of the Cathedral of Wells, expressed a hope that the MSS. in the possession of the Bishop and Chapter might be
printed. Since that time these documents have been carefully examined and catalogued, and we have in this volume some of the results of these labours. The Bishopric of Wells dates from
the reign of Edward the Elder, though there have been inter- ruptions. In 1088 the cathedra was transferred to Bath, and Wells suffered an almost total eclipse. In 1136 Robert of Lewes changed all this. Robert was a Minim monk, and be founded not only the new church at Wells, but the town itself. Bath was not dispossessed. Both churches were to be equally seats of the Bishop ; he was to be enthroned in both,
Bath having in this respect the precedence. The story of how he ordered things in the restored diocese is highly
interesting. He was manifestly an able and far-seeing man.
Another great ruler and benefactor of the see was Bishop Jocelin, who ruled it from 1206 to 1242. It would require more space than we can afford to follow in detail the story of the founds.
tion, a story not always peaceful, for the Chapter had often to hold its own both against the Bishop and against the Roman officials. Late in the thirteenth century we find the beginning of a busy and prosperous epoch. With this is associated the name of Dean Codley (1305-33), to whom the Church, as it stands now, owes some important features. Both the Central Tower and the
Chapter House were finished during this period. It must have been somewhat of a figure of speech when, in the year after his
death, the Dean and Chapter pleaded the "ruinous and dilapi-
dated state of their church" as an excuse for not contributing to the subsidy which Edward III. was raising for a dowry of his sister Eleanor. The Bishop, however, sent SAO, alone equivalent
to .2800 in our present money, as a gift. Ile was very much in debt, he said, or he would have given more. Among the institu- tions of Wells were schools. There was a choir-school for the choristers, and another school for the younger vicars and others. The Magister Scholarsinn was endowed with a prebend. The appen- dices contain the text of various important documents.
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