Behind Closed Doors: Inside Wells Cathedral's secret medieval buildings 'untouched' for centuries

  • Louisa Britton explores some of the picturesque buildings at Vicars' Close

Wells is famous for its stunning cathedral and its picturesque city centre, but some of its most historic buildings have remained closed to the public.

ITV West Country's Behind Closed Doors series has had a look inside several of the medieval buildings that surround the cathedral.

Many of the buildings connecting Vicars' Close, which is the oldest intact medieval street in Europe still used for its original purpose, to the cathedral are not accessible to the public but hold secrets of the past.

Crystal Johnson, from Wells Cathedral, explained how the old treasury block would have played a crucial role. "So this is where the heart of the money and the management of the cathedral would have been in the past.

"It's pretty much untouched just because it's pretty inaccessible.

Parts of Vicars' Close are closed to the public and have remained largely untouched. Credit: ITV News West Country

"This is one of our real kind of important hidden spaces. It's the area that would have been used as the Treasury. So by its nature it's quite inaccessible. We've got very small windows, very small spaces.

"One of the things about Vicars' Close is, yes, the buildings are really important, but we've got some really fantastic objects and items."

The houses along Vicar's Close are 650 years old and still house members of the choir and vergers who work at the cathedral.

George Toone, who has been living on the close for five years, said: "You're very much living in history, living in the past, and very aware of the fact that your predecessors very much lived here as well. So it's a real privilege.

"Where we used to live in number 22. The bathroom, it is the bathroom now, it was a bedroom and was slept in by the Archbishop of Canterbury back in the 1500s.

The Chain Bridge physically connects Vicars' Close to the cathedral Credit: ITV News West Country

"That was certainly a little interesting fact we found out when we were living there."

Although many of these spaces are closed off to the public - it's hoped that could change soon.

Crystal explained: "A lot of the buildings are just completely closed off. So we are going for second stage lottery funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to really increase the opportunities for people to see behind the scenes and to learn about the history and heritage.

"So we'd be opening up a couple of the houses for people to have a look around.

"People will be able to come into Vicars' Close and be able to make this route over to really understand that kind of story of why we've got the Close and how it interacted with the cathedral in the past."

  • If you would like to see behind the doors of a place or location anywhere in the West Country, please let us know by emailing westcountry@itv.com