Bath and Wells, diocese of

Bath and Wells, diocese of The present See, created in 909, is roughly conterminous with the old county of Somerset. Though Wells itself was founded in c.704 as a religious centre by Ine, king of Wessex, it was not until 909 that Edward the Elder split the bishopric of Sherborne into four, Wells being the new See for Somerset. In 973 Dunstan crowned Edgar as king of all England at Bath abbey. The first Norman bishop, John de Villula (1088–1122), became abbot of Bath, to which he transferred his See (1090). This led to friction between the monks of Bath and the canons of Wells over episcopal elections. In 1176 Pope Alexander III resolved the dispute by declaring the cities to be joint‐Sees. The magnificent 13th‐cent. cathedral stands within a complex of buildings, including the moated bishop's palace, started by Burnell, and the 14th‐cent. Vicars' Close.