West Front & Vicars Close, Wells

The West Front of the Cathedral is one of the seminal monuments of gothic architecture, and contains the most extensive display of mid-thirteenth century sculpture in the country, and one of the most important in Europe.  In 1974 the Dean and Chapter of Wells Cathedral began the programme of conservation of the 297 medieval figure sculptures and the architecture of the west facade which contains them. 

Alban Caroe, cathedral architect from 1954, had long realised that a major campaign of repair to the west front was inevitable, and, by the early 1970s, overdue.  He oversaw initial experiments in conservation by 'Bert' Wheeler, the Clerk of the Works, and Robert Baker, Professor of Ceramics at the RCA  with consideration of other, newly developed, methodologies.

The conservation programme for the West Front from 1974 to 1986 was pivotal in the development of techniques for the preservation of exterior sculptures, and the methods pioneered here were the inspiration for subsequent work at Exeter Cathedral, Bath Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral and elsewhere, and they still represent the basis for much of the current conservation of external stonework.

In the early 1980s we were also responsible for repairs and landscape improvements to Vicars' Close the gated street built by Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury in the mid 14th century to house the men of the choir and reputedly the oldest inhabited street in Europe.