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Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 4pm

Wells & Mendip Museum

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Wells & Mendip Museum

Discover the secrets of the Mendip caves, why early humans settled here, and why the Romans invaded

Archaeology; Natural History; Geology and Caving; Needlework Samplers; Mining and Local History; The Harry Patch Memorial;The Witch of Wookey Hole: Cathedral statuary.

29/05/2026

🎨 Our new exhibition with Martin Bentham RWA opens tomorrow morning (Saturday 30th May). ✨ Martin’s work is heavily inspired by nature, with most of his oil paintings created entirely outdoors on-site to capture the real textures and light of the landscape.
The exhibition is only running until next Saturday, 6th June, so make sure to stop by the museum gallery this week.
Open: 10:00am – 4:00pm (Note: we are closed Sundays and Mondays)
Admission: Free entry to exhibition only

26/05/2026

Looking for the perfect weekend plan? 🌿 On Saturday, 6th June, entry to both the museum and our hidden medieval walled garden is completely FREE for our Garden Open Day & Plant Sale!
Normally a paid entry, this is your chance to explore our indoor galleries, wander the garden, and pick up some new plants.
Join us from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for plants, refreshments, and history. Admission is free, but donations are warmly welcomed! 👋
📍 8 Cathedral Green, Wells, BA5 2UE
⏰ Saturday, 6th June | 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

23/05/2026

X marks the spot. In 1956 the then Hon. Curator of the museum Professor Leo Palmer used a ‘Megger Earth Tester’ hoping to prove the existence of an undiscovered large chamber close to the Great Chamber of Lamb Leer Cavern, one of Mendip’s caves.

The device measured ground resistance which would change depending on the nature of the underground area being surveyed. Palmer used his results to predict the location of ‘Palmer’s Chamber’, but it has never been found.

The museum has a gallery ‘Netherworld’ dedicated to discovering and exploring caves by digging and cave diving. Come along and have a look!

The Megger booklet is in the museum’s collections

18/05/2026

Why Wells? In a series of essays in this new publication, the author Dr Nick Axten tells the story of the city. He investigates, describes, and offers explanations how the geology, landscape, people and buildings have shaped this extraordinary city. Published by the museum Why Wells? is a 54 page publication on sale in our shop for £5.00p.

16/05/2026

Vallis Vale lies just west of Frome and contains a famous geological feature, the ‘De La Beche’ unconformity, which can be seen in an abandoned quarry. An island of steeply dipping Carboniferous Black Rock Limestone, eroded during the Triassic period, was gradually covered by rising sea levels in Late Triassic and Early Jurassic times. In these warm seas thin limestones, clays and conglomerates of the Upper Triassic Penarth Group were deposited onto the Carboniferous limestone landmass.
A lantern slide at the museum shows how this looked in the 1930s. The museum has a gallery dedicated to understanding the extraordinary geology of the area.

11/05/2026

The Wells Turnpike Trust was established in 1753. It maintained 44 miles of road radiating out from the city, paid for by charges levied on road users and collected at toll-houses. Five of the Trust's toll-houses survive; three inner ones, Tor Gate on the Shepton road, Keward Gate on the Glastonbury road, Stoberry Gate on the Bristol road, and two outer gates at Old Down and at Street. Find out more about turnpike roads in our Wells City galleries.

Image in the museum collections: The Stoberry Gate toll-house in the 1950s. Today’s travellers on the Bristol Road will recognise it on the left as they leave the City

07/05/2026

Somerset Day 2026
Saturday & Sunday 9th & 10th May

As part of the Somerset Day celebrations, on Saturday 9th May, the museum will be hosting a Roman " Living History "
A Roman Legionary soldier will show what the Roman army were wearing when they marched onto the Mendips.
With visual and sound effects, he will talk about the artefacts on display in the museum’s new " Roman Mendip " gallery.
He is happy to answer questions and will also offer photograph opportunities

02/05/2026

Last week our new Roman Mendip gallery was formally opened by the Mayor of Wells, Cllr Louis Agabani. Pictured here left to right are Sue Isherwood, Chair of the museum’s board of trustees, Mayor Agabani, Roman legionary Lucius Julius Hipponicus, and the Mayor’s wife Pippa.

20/04/2026

In 1937, quarrying activities in Underwood Quarry at Milton Hill near Wells uncovered a deep natural fissure. Hippopotamus bones were discovered, and further excavations recovered finds of straight-tusked elephant, bison, spotted hyaena, and red and fallow deer.
How old are they and how did they get there? Initial thoughts were that the fissure was an animal trap made by early humans, about 60,000 years ago. However we now know they are some 125,000 years old, from the relatively warm Ipswichian interglacial period, the last interglacial of the Pleistocene era before the ice ages ended. Current thinking is that the animals gathered at a waterhole where they were preyed on by hyaenas.

Many of the finds are on display in the Museum’s Balch Room.

10/04/2026

For Easter, detail from Elizabeth Toogood’s sampler, which is on display at the museum. Elizabeth made this in 1817 when she was eleven years old and living in nearby Wedmore. The museum has a gallery dedicated to samplers, many from the collection of Eveleen Perkins who lived at East Court, Wookey.

Looking for interesting things to do over the Easter break? In addition to our displays of samplers, geology, palaeontology, Wells city history, WW1 trench, and cave exploring, we also have our new permanent gallery ‘Roman Mendip’ which opened just last week!

05/04/2026

Now open! Step into Roman Mendip at our new permanent gallery, exploring lead mining, daily life and the lasting impact of Roman occupation on the Mendip Hills.

Featuring local archaeological finds, the gallery is supported by decades of archaeological research including recent community archaeology excavations.

Address

8 Cathedral Green
Wells
BA52UE

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

1749-673477

Website

http://wellsmuseum.org.uk/

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