Wells City Archives and Civic Assets
The City Council is the custodian of a wide range of artefacts ranging from the tiniest seal to large portraits and from civic gifts to furniture and Caroline maces.
It is less well known that the City Council also cares for a unique collection of records which go back far beyond the Charter granted by King John in 1201 and which chart a fascinating history of civic life and business through the ages.
The care of all of these and their promotion through exhibitions is overseen by Archives & Civic Assets and the City's Archivist.
The Records
Wells City Archives contains many thousands of original documents which chart much of the history of Wells. There are some which date back nearly 900 years. There is a huge variety of records, ranging from older historical material such as charters, convocation books and medieval title deeds, to a large collection of Victorian material, to many different types of document dating from living memory and up to the present day. These include records relating to local clubs and societies, railways, health, water supply, allotments, royal visits and markets. There is also a collection of maps and plans, and there are a number of prints, posters and photographs.
Enquiries and Visitors
Everybody is welcome to use the City Archives, brief queries by letter, ‘phone or email are welcome. If you wish to visit the Archives, please contact the Wells & Mendip Museum, 8 Cathedral Green, Wells, Somerset BA5 2UE, telephone 01749 673477.
Visits to the Reading Room are by appointment only, arranged with the Wells & Mendip Museum.
Wells Twinning Association
Twinning is about enabling the citizens of different towns in different countries to gain a better understanding of each other's society and culture through personal contacts organised by officially recognised organisations in the respective partner towns.
In the UK twinning does not attract public subsidy but town to town twinning links are usually authenticated by the appropriate local council. In response to public requests, the Wells City Council has formalised each of the twinning links by arranging for the creation of charters and hosting the signing ceremonies. The Wells Twinning Association organises and sustains the links.
The Mayor of Wells is the president of the Wells Twinning Association; the Mayor frequently welcomes groups of visitors from the twin towns into the Mayor’s Parlour at the Town Hall.
Paray-Le-Monial
The twinning movement in Wells was started in the mid-1970s and led to the first twinning link being completed in 1979. Our first partner town was Paray-Le-Monial which is renowned for its 11th century basilica and lies in the heart of the French burgundy country.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paray-le-Monial Paray-le-Monial is a town of about 10,000 people and is situated in the Saone-et-Loire department of France. Apart from its basilica it is an administrative centre for an area of farming and wine production. It has a railway station and some light industry. It is a centre of pilgrimage for many Catholics around the world.
Bad Durkheim
Our French partners suggested that Wells should also twin with their German twin town Bad Durkheim, so that we have a twinning triangle.
The twinning link with Bad Durkheim was completed in 1983. Bad Durkheim is located in the Rhineland Palatinate and is renowned for its annual Wurstmarkt and its wine production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_D%C3%BCrkheim
Bad Durkheim is a town of over 20,000 people and lies twenty miles to the west of the industrial cities of Ludwigshaven and Mannheim, to which it is connected by tram. It is a spa town and is said to have the largest barrel in the world, which is now partly used as a restaurant. It claims to be the largest wine-producing commune in Germany. Its wine festival every September attracts over 500,000 visitors each year.
Click here to see the charter between Wells and Bad Durkheim
Fontanellato
Much more recently Wells established a twinning link with Fontanellato in northern Italy. This was in response to requests from the Italian community in Wells and others to have an Italian twin town. This was completed in 2012 with ceremonies in both towns. Fontanellato shares with Wells the fact that during world war two there were prisoner-of-war camps in both places, each having POWs from the other's country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontanellato
Fontanellato is a small town serving a population of over 7,000 people in the Italian region of Emila-Romagna, about ten miles west of Parma.
It is an administrative centre with a stunning medieval moated castle and market place. The area is renowned for its production of Parmesan cheese and Parma ham. It is also close to the famous operatic composer Verdi's birthplace, and his final home, which is now a museum dedicated to his life and work.
Click here to see the charter between Wells and Fontanellato
Wells also has two Friendship Towns -
Kluczbork, Poland and Bad Berka, Germany
Contact
Twinning activities are open to all those who live in the Wells area, the Wells Twinning Association has over one hundred members and is involved in organising twinning visits to and from partner towns. It also raises money by holding local events in order to pay for some of the costs of these visits.
The Chair of the Association is John North Email: north.john1@sky.com