Philip Welch giving his Blue Plaques talk in Wells Town Hall

There are a host of stories behind the series of 11 Blue Plaques in Wells.

For example, that Winston Churchill stayed at the Swan Hotel.

And England’s greatest cricketer W G Grace played on the Recreation Ground in 1867 and left after scoring only three runs. He was famous for refusing to leave the crease when given out by the umpire.

These and many more stories were told in a talk at Wells Town Hall by Philip Welch, who led on creating the plaques on behalf of Wells Civic Society.

The sites for the plaques are:

1: Swan Hotel which opened in 1422 and welcomed famous guests like King Henry VII, Prime Ministers Ramsay Macdonald and Winston Churchill.

No 2: Wells Blue School for film director Edgar Wright who was a student there and made most of the movie Hot Fuzz in the city.

No 3: 10 Market Place, now part of the Crown Hotel but a photographic shop from 1855-1979 run by Bert Phillips for almost 50 years from 1866. He created a treasure trove of iconic images recording local events.

No 4:  Silver Street. W G Grace playing on the Recreation Ground in 1867.

No 5: The former Barclays Bank plaque recalls Judge Jeffreys trying 541 rebels captured by King James II’s soldiers after the Protestant Duke of Monmouth’s failed rebellion, in one day in 1685.

No 6: Portway, on the modern house was built on the entrance to the demolished Brine’s Brush Factory. Brushes used to be made in several Wells factories.  

No 7: St Andrew Street, this commemorates best-selling author Elizabeth Goudge who was born in The Tower House on St Andrew Street in 1900 and aged two she moved to The Rib across the road. 

No 8: Keward, the Wells gallows were near here.

No 9: The Mitre in Sadler Street which was a major coaching inn under different names from 1605. 

No 10: The City Arms. The Wells jail was based here from 1606. Later cells were included in the new Town Hall built in 1779. 

No 11: Priory Health Park. In Victorian times there were plenty of paupers in Wells so in 1836 a Workhouse was built where they could be usefully employed.