[7] A small Roman settlement surrounded them, which grew in importance and size under the Anglo-Saxons when King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church there in 704.

The community became a trading centre based on cloth making and Wells is notable for its 17th-century involvement in both the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion.

[8] The city was a Roman settlement that became an important centre under the Anglo-Saxons when King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church in 704.

In the 14th century a French ship sailed up the river, and by 1388 Thomas Tanner from Wells used Rackley to export cloth and corn to Portugal, and received iron and salt in exchange.

[14] Earlier names for the settlement have been identified which include Fontanetum,[15] in a charter of 725 granted by King Ina to Glastonbury and Fontanensis Ecclesia.

[17][18] City status was most recently confirmed by Queen Elizabeth II by letters patent issued under the Great Seal dated 1 April 1974, which granted city status specifically to the civil parish;[19][20] on that date major local government reorganisation came into effect, which involved the abolition of the municipal borough of Wells.

The mayor, William Bull, held a dinner for members of the queen's household including her four maids of honour.

[23] During the English Civil War (1642–1651), at what became known as the "Siege of Wells", the city found itself surrounded by Parliamentarian guns on the Bristol, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet sides.

Here he was briefly arrested for addressing a large crowd in the market place, but released on the intervention of the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

[25] During the Monmouth Rebellion (1685) the rebel army attacked the cathedral in an outburst against the established church and damaged the west front.

[28] In 1870, the Cheddar Valley line branch of the Bristol & Exeter Railway from Yatton, reached Wells and built a third station at Tucker Street.

[29] Matters were simplified when the Great Western Railway acquired the Cheddar Valley and the East Somerset lines and built a link between them that ran through the S&DJR's Priory Road station.

Priory Road closed to passenger traffic in 1951 when the S&DJR branch line from Glastonbury was shut, though it remained the city's main goods depot.

Southern Railway West Country class steam locomotive no 34092 was named City of Wells at a ceremony at Priory Road station in 1949.

They are involved in the management of the Community Sports Development Centre at the Blue School, the skateboard park and allotments in the grounds of the Bishop's Palace, Burcott Road and Barnes Close.

[44] HMS Somerset, Mary Bignal-Rand, Danny Nightingale, The Rifles and the late Harry Patch have the Freedom of the City.

In the 1960s, the tallest mast in the region, the Mendip UHF television transmitter, was installed on Pen Hill above Wells,[58] approximately two miles (three kilometres) from the centre of the city.

Streams passing through caves on the Mendip Hills, including Thrupe Lane Swallet and Viaduct Sink (approximately 5 km or 3 mi east of the city), emerge at Saint Andrew's Well in the garden of the Bishop's Palace,[59][60][61] from where the water fills the moat around the Palace and then flows into Keward Brook, which carries it for approximately a mile west to the point where the brook joins the River Sheppey in the village of Coxley.

The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variations, but due to the modifying effect of the sea, the range is less than in most other parts of the United Kingdom.

The south west of England enjoys a favoured location, particularly in summer, when the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK.

[68] Wells is a popular tourist destination, due to its historical sites,[69] its proximity to Bath, Bristol, Stonehenge and Glastonbury and its closeness to the Somerset coast.

[71] Recent examples (2014 to 2017) include filming for Series 2 of Poldark, Dunkirk, Another Mother's Son, Broadchurch, The Levelling, Mum's List, and The White Princess.

[77] Bristol Temple Meads railway station is accessible via the 376 bus route; the journey time is around one hour.

[94] The polychromatic stone Church of St Thomas was built during 1856 and 1857 and extended by Samuel Sanders Teulon in 1864, commemorating the work of Richard Jenkyns the Dean of Wells who had cared for the poor in the east of the city.

[98] It is known for its fine fan vaulted ceilings, Lady Chapel and windows, and the scissor arches which support the central tower.

The west front is said to be the finest collection of statuary in Europe,[99] retaining almost 300 of its original medieval statues,[100] carved from the cathedral's warm, yellow Doulting stone.

[101] The Chapter House, at the top of a flight of stone stairs, leading out from the north transept is an octagonal building with a fan-vaulted ceiling.

Visitors can also see the Bishop's private chapel, ruined great hall and the gatehouse with portcullis and drawbridge beside which mute swans ring a bell for food.

[121] Wells Leisure Centre has a 25 m (82 ft) swimming pool, gymnasium, sports hall, sauna, steam room, relaxation area and solarium.

[124] Wells has been used as the setting for several films including: The Canterbury Tales (1973),[125] A Fistful of Fingers (1994),[126] The Gathering (2003),[127] The Libertine (2004),[128] The Golden Age (2007),[128] and Hot Fuzz (2007, as Sandford).