The Bishop's Palace & Gardens — Attraction in Wells

This is where and how, this beautiful tiny city got its name!

The Bishops Palace & Gardens are surrounded by high walls and a moat with plenty of swans. Entry through a high archway and a walk past a busy cafe (good plates of food here - no kids menu but my 2 had the fish and chips to share which was perfect) to the gate will gain you entrance. It's £8 to get in, which has gone up since I was last there, but the kids went free (ages 8 and 10). I actually wanted to go to the rare plant fair that was being held on the wide front lawn, but afterwards we went into the gardens. There is an open space with trees, and paths running up along the walls that you can look over to moat and beyond, but if you immediately go left round the side on the Palace, you walk through a planted parterre of euonymous (the box hedges have all been replaced now because of the box moth caterpillar problem) and beautiful trees. The planting was beautiful, lots of flowers still out at this late stage as you can see from the photos. There are lots of statues throughout, one being a large set of crafted metal and white glass wings, which the kids had their photo taken with! Then into the next section, over the water and the swans nesting place. These are where the wells, or underground aquifers, are located, which are deep springs in the ground (Wells is very close to Wookey Hole which is the source of The Axe river in Somerset). Dependent on time of year/whether it has rained a lot in the week previously, sometimes the water actually bulges on the surface of the pools. However, you can easily see how much water is created as it runs through a small lock, down a channel into a waterfall to the moat. The gardens have been planted all around the pools, and with the cathedral rising majestically in the background, it really is a beautiful sight, and well...

We held our wedding reception at The Bishop’s Palace in September 2023.

From our initial enquiry through to the run up to the day itself, their wedding co-ordinator, Imogen, was always available to answer our questions and for meetings at the palace if we needed to – and for the final arrangements liaised with our band and other suppliers to ensure everyone knew where to be.

Imogen also helped with interesting ideas for decoration that would make the most of the palace, and when we thought of things, Imogen had a list of suppliers to suggest where we might source them.

We found the venue fun to decorate and found The Bishop’s Palace quite accommodating with our requests and our extensive floristry. We were allowed to dress the venue the day before our event and have suppliers drop off décor we had hired.

The recommended caterers, The French Kitchen were flawless and went above-and-beyond our expectations – Ben their events manager worked with Imogen at the Palace to run our day so smoothly, it was sad when it was eventually over.

In the weeks since our wedding, we are still receiving comments from our guests saying how wonderful the day was, and how beautiful the venue was.

If you are considering the Bishop’s Palace for your wedding reception, we can’t recommend it...

I came here on a whim whilst I was in Wells and it was such a brilliant decision!

I arrived at the tickets office and bought my ticket. I wasn't entirely sure what gift-aid was and the lovely man on the desk was so patient and understanding with me. He helped explain gift-aid to me and who's eligible and reassured me that if I wasn't sure I didn't have to gift-aid the transaction. He was a Saint! Truly a wonderful person.

I started my tour at a few minutes to 12 and luckily caught the tour at the perfect time, as they run at noon every day. It was just me, a very kind lady and the volunteer guide John. He had a lot of passion for what he spoke about and you could really tell how much he loved his work. Each room and space he led us around was beautifully well preserved and really felt as though you could see the past in front of your own eyes.

John answered every question, even if it was about the smallest thing. The tour was quite intimate due to our small group, but I think it made it infinitely better, to feel like our very own expert guiding us around.

Every part of the bishop's palace is brilliant and well worth your support. The ticket isn't cheap persay but it allows re-entry within 12 months. So that seems incredibly good value for someone who lives semi-locally...