Scissor-arch west front, England's smallest city.
Wells is the earliest of the English cathedrals built wholly in the Gothic style, begun around 1175. Its great West Front carries the largest surviving array of medieval statuary in Britain, and inside, the scissor arches — thrown across the crossing in the 1330s to brace a sinking tower — are unlike anything elsewhere. Open daily to visitors, with a donation asked. The small city of Wells grew up around it.
