[Illustration:  VICARS’ CLOSE, WELLS]

Next in interest to the Cathedral is the Palace.  It is approached either from the cloisters or through another of Beckington’s porches, called the Palace Eye.  Both entrances give access to the outer court.  Within is a second court containing the palace.  This inclosure is protected by crenellated walls and surrounded by a moat.  These semi-fortifications were erected by Bishop Ralph, who perhaps found that a mitre was as uneasy a headgear as a crown.  A gate-house, with a drawbridge commands the entrance.  If the porter has not been too worried by tourists a peep may sometimes be obtained at the sacred enclosure.  The actual palace forms the E. boundary of what was once a stately quadrangle.  The kitchens formed the N. wing, and on the S. was the chapel and hall.  The latter is now only a picturesque ruin.  The oldest part of the structure has oddly enough been the one to survive.  With the exception of the modern upper storey, the existing palace was the work of Bishop Joceline (1206-42).  It consists of a groined basement, forming an entrance hall (note chimney piece) and dining hall.  Above are the household apartments and a picture gallery, hung with portraits of former occupants of the see.  The chapel and the now dismantled great hall on the S. were built by Bishop Burnell (1274-92).  The chapel remains intact.  It is a fine Dec. building, with groined roof and some good window tracery.  Of the hall only the N. and W. walls and some detached turrets now survive.  It was originally a chamber of quite majestic proportions, covered by a wooden roof and lighted on either side by some tall 2-light Dec. windows.  At the W. end stood the buttery and above it the solar (a “sunny” drawing-room).  The palace appears to have been sold by Bishop Barlow to Protector Somerset, and upon the dispersal of Somerset’s ill-gotten gains it passed into the hands of Sir J. Gates, who unroofed the building for the sake of its lead and timber.  The ruin of the fabric was completed by Dean Burgess (temp. Cromwell), who used it as a quarry for the repair of the Deanery.  A kind of poetic justice eventually overtook both these depredators.  Gates lost his head and Burgess his liberty.  A particularly picturesque bit of the palace is the N. face overlooking the moat.  The dead surface of the wall is prettily broken by some projecting oriel windows, the insertion of Bishop Clarke (1523-40).  The gardens are delightful, and are watered by St Andrew’s well which gushes from its hidden sources to overflow into the moat.  A visitor may occasionally enjoy the mild sensation of seeing a bevy of swans ring a bell for their dinner.  To the right of the broad public walk which runs along the W. side of the moat is the city recreation ground in which will be noticed the old episcopal barn.  It is a good example of a mediaeval granary, and is said to be of the same age as the N.W. tower of the Cathedral.  It has an unusual number of buttresses.