Nunney Castle and the City of Wells

Nunney Castle looks like a setting where King Arthur might have met with his Knights at the famed Round Table, but in fact it wasn't constructed until 1370, more than 800 years after the death of Arthur or real counterparts from whom composite legends evolved.

It was a knight, Sir John de la Mare, who built Nunney Castle with the help of his brother.  Sir John financed the project using spoils of war from France.

In 1645, the castle sustained major damage when Parliamentarians overthrew the monarchy in hopes of permanently supplanting feudalism with representative democracy.

Now in ruins, Nunney Castle retains a feel of its royal heritage.  It's not likely to show up on "House Hunters International" as a fixer-upper, although size-wise it actually would be more do-able than a larger castle with extensive palatial grounds like Sizergh or certainly a full-blown palace like Schönbrunn.

All that's left are pockmarked walls, but it conjures up images of more chivalrous times.

While the royals lived in castles, we should keep in mind that most of the population lived lives of quiet desperation as serfs.  They served at the whims of their masters, the lords of lands awarded by royal decree for service to the King that often occurred as commanders on the field of battle.

The serfs would work their farms from dawn until dusk essentially as share-croppers.  They would pay a substantial share to their overlords, leaving them at the subsistence level of existence.  When the King asked his Knights to join him to resolve some conflict with another kingdom, the farmers would be pressed into military service.  Part of the obligation of being granted land holdings was the obligation to fight for the King's honor.  In war, serfs were often little more than cannon fodder for the glory and enrichment of the aristocracy.

Remember that when politicians tell you they need more central power to fight for a cause with no clear solution as our generation's equivalent of a great war.

Nunney Castle made a nice photo stop on our way to Glastonbury, but we were soon back into the van to our next stop, the historic city of Wells.

Among the advantages of an excursion like this Viator Tour versus independent travel, beyond making the most of the drive by providing an informational narrative and interesting stops along the route, is the van will drop you right next to the "must-see" attractions.

That beats driving around aimlessly trying to find a parking spot not too far away, even if you already know what to see and why, much less taking a train which may not leave you within miles of the site you wish to visit.  Our driver/guide Mark dropped us directly outside an ancient city gate leading into the Cathedral grounds.

The imposing Anglican Cathedral of Wells was built between 1175 and 1450 --- and that is how long it took to complete, not a guess at the approximate year of completion --- on the site of the original Wells church that had been on the site  since about the year 700.  Once again, it brought to mind Ken Follett's Kingsbridge Series, three novels about a fictional community that grew around a similar Cathedral village which I strongly recommend.

This church was originally a Catholic Cathedral, because the Anglican Church didn't exist until the Dissolution of Catholic holdings in England under King Henry VIII.

Wells Cathedral is widely acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and poetic Cathedrals in England.  It is the best surviving example of English Gothic Architecture.  Most Cathedrals had been destroyed by Henry VIII, but fortunately he simply converted this gorgeous structure.  Outside England, Gothic Cathedrals were often remodeled into Romanesque or some other more modern design of later eras.  The term Gothic became synonymous with old-fashioned or perhaps ugly.

We decided to skip admission to see what is without doubt a spectacular interior, instead simply appreciating the exterior.  At some point when visiting Europe, you may become a bit jaded about seeing the inside of another church when you know you will be visiting several others on the same trip.

On this particular day, we wanted to take advantage of the bright July sunshine to see all of the beautiful scenery around Wells.

The Vicar's Close is an incredibly well-preserved Medieval street.

The Bishop's Palace is another beautiful complex with a dramatic gateway.

We eventually meandered into the village, where a farmer's market was in full swing, carrying on a tradition that's lasted hundreds of years.

Rather than buying a meal from one of the pop-up booth vendors, we went to a village bakery for a combo deal of a sandwich, pastry and Diet Coke, which Julie and I split at a sidewalk table.

The English sunshine was so unusually bright on this day that unfortunately it seemed to wash out many of our photos, but hopefully you can still see the underlying beauty.

Because we ate in Wells, we had more time for the Abbey tour in Glastonbury, which was the city where we were scheduled to have lunch.  It worked out well for us.

Nunney Castle