Good morning, Mendips! It's a mild, breezy Tuesday with almost no chance of rain, so there's no excuse to skip the walk. Tonight there's a talk in Chilcompton on the First World War names carved into Somerset's granite, and tomorrow brings soup and strings in Wells. On Sunday, Wells Cathedral hears Fauré's gentle Requiem for Remembrance Sunday, and further ahead there's a production of Hamlet starring an egg. And our feature explains why Somerset folk once prayed to a very dead bishop about their teeth.
Featured Event: Fauré's Requiem for Remembrance Sunday, Wells Cathedral
On Remembrance Sunday, 8 November, the Wells Cathedral Choir sings Gabriel Fauré's Requiem at Wells Cathedral from 3pm to 4pm, in a service of prayers and reflection that ends with the Cathedral's traditional poppy drop. Admission is free, with a retiring collection for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and the Cathedral.
If a requiem sounds like a heavy afternoon, this one is the gentle exception. Many settings of the funeral Mass, such as those by Verdi and Mozart, thunder about a day of wrath. Fauré left most of that out. His first version was sung at a funeral in Paris in 1888, and he went on reworking it until a full orchestral version was heard there in 1900. He called death "a happy deliverance" rather than something to fear, and you can hear it: about 35 minutes of calm, warm, consoling music, more lullaby than thunderstorm.
You may know it better than you think. The closing movement, In Paradisum, floats upwards on the words "may the angels lead you into paradise", and film-makers have borrowed it more than once, including for The Thin Red Line (1999) and The Batman (2022). So if you've ever wondered what the music in the quiet bit of a film was, this could be it, sung live in a cathedral.
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🏛️ Wells's Bishop Joins the House of Lords
Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was formally introduced to the House of Lords at Westminster on Tuesday 27 October. He expects to spend about one day a week there while Parliament sits, and says he'll keep visiting Somerset's parishes, schools and communities to hear local concerns. The seat comes with his role as bishop, rather than a life peerage.
⚡ Clarks Village Plugs In Eight New Charging Bays
Clarks Village in Street now has eight new electric vehicle charging bays: four 22kW fast chargers and four 50kW rapid ones, installed by RAW Charging. They replace the two older 7kW points in Car Park 2. The work is part of a 20-year, £24.5 million partnership with Landsec, which owns the centre. Retail therapy for you and the car.
English Lessons from the
Uxbridge English Dictionary
Bacchanalian – To bet on a Martian.
Dialysis – To call a female sibling using an old-fashioned telephone.
Plaintiff – A rather boring argument between two lovers.
Shuttlecock – A space chicken.
Worth Planning For
The Tragedy of Omlet, Prince of Hen-mark, Bishop Sutton
Saturday 14 November, 7.30pm, Bishop Sutton Village Hall
Ever watched Hamlet and thought, "Lovely, but where's the egg?" Well, you're in luck. Living Spit are bringing The Tragedy of Omlet, Prince of Hen-mark to Bishop Sutton Village Hall, and yes, the brooding Danish prince is an egg. One man, Stu McLoughlin, plays the lot, aided by a supporting cast of fresh vegetables and other foodstuffs, a spot of food puppetry, live original music and puns so bad you'll groan and grin at the same time. It's all the drama of Elsinore with the added risk of scrambling.
Stu McLoughlin
It's part of the Valley Arts Fringe Festival and runs for 1 hour 40 minutes, with a 20-minute interval for ice creams, or perhaps just a lie-down. It's for ages 12 and over, so a good one for a teenage night out too. Tickets are £16.17 for adults and £13.48 for under-18s, both including booking fee, through TicketSource. There are no refunds, so check the diary first.
Cam Valley Arts Trail, Paulton and Neighbouring Villages
Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November, 10.30am to 4.30pm
Fancy a nosy round other people's studios? That's the whole idea of the Cam Valley Arts Trail, where around 30 artists throw open their home studios and shared venues across the villages along the Cam, including Tunley, Paulton, High Littleton, Timsbury and Clutton. You can chat to the makers, watch demonstrations, and have a go at a workshop or two. Entry is free, which leaves more of your budget for coming home with a painting you didn't know you needed.
Cam Valley Artist - Denise Dufferin
It's a good excuse for a weekend potter along the valley, and a very sociable way to see what's being made on your doorstep. Wrap up warm, as studios and village halls in November can be chilly, and plan a route so you don't spend half your day in the car.
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The Saint You Prayed to for Toothache
A visit this week to my dentist’s slick new consulting room for a six-monthly checkup made me think again of living in this time and place.
Before dentists, anaesthetic or even a decent toothbrush, a Somerset toothache gave you three choices: suffer, visit the barber and his pliers, or go to Wells Cathedral and pray to a bishop who had been dead for years.
Fangs ain’t what they used to be.
William Bitton (sometimes written Button), the second bishop of that name, ran the diocese of Bath and Wells from 1267 until his death in December 1274. He was so admired for his piety that the new Archbishop of Canterbury insisted that Bitton should be the one to consecrate him. Rome never made him a saint, but Somerset did it anyway. Crowds brought prayers and offerings to his tomb, and before long "Saint William" had a speciality, which was toothache.
The habit was hard to break. In the early 1600s, the church historian Francis Godwin grumbled that "many superstitious people (especially such as were troubled with the tooth-ake)" were still visiting the tomb "even of late yeeres".
Then, in 1848, restoration work in the cathedral uncovered his coffin, and it was opened in front of the Dean. Inside lay the skeleton with every bone in place, an iron ring, a little wooden crozier in two pieces, and a lead plate naming "Willelmus de Button secundus". An eyewitness noted that the teeth were "absolutely perfect in number, shape, and order, and without a trace of decay". Nearly 600 years on, the toothache saint still had a better smile than most of his pilgrims.
The rest of the story is carved in stone. Among the stone foliage on top of the transept pillars, little figures grimace and clutch their jaws, and one modern study counts eleven of them. Victorian writers were sure these were thank-you notes to Saint William, carved with the pilgrims' pennies during repairs in the 1280s. It's a lovely idea with one snag: the transepts themselves were built about a century before he died. Were the capitals left uncarved and finished later, or did medieval masons just enjoy a good toothache joke? Historians still argue about it.
Next time you visit, look up at the pillars on the west side of the south transept, then find the worn Purbeck marble slab in the south choir aisle. It shows a bearded bishop raising his hand in blessing, and the Victorians called it the oldest incised slab in England. Go before 4pm, because the east end closes for Evensong from Monday to Saturday. Toothache is optional.
Over to you: what odd toothache remedy did your family swear by: clove oil, whisky, or something stranger? And if you can spot the toothache men on your next cathedral visit, hit reply and send us your photos.
Today — Tuesday 3 November
Wells Art Contemporary — Wells Cathedral. Open 9am to 4.30pm, on until Saturday 7 November. Free for Bath and Wells diocese residents. More info
Roots, Routes and Resilience — Shoemakers Museum, Street. Exhibition on until 15 November (check opening days). More info
Tom Winter exhibition — The Bishop's Palace, Wells. On until 21 November (check opening days). More info
Local History Illustrated Presentation: "Death and Service" — 7.30pm to 8.30pm, Chilcompton Village Hall. Richard Cooper-Knight shares the stories of local people who died in the First World War, drawn from his research into Commonwealth war graves across Somerset. £5 entry, raffle. More info
Lavender Vespers: Halloween Spooktacular — The King Arthur, Benedict Street, Glastonbury. A community evening for the LGBTQ+ community and allies, with live entertainment, games and a Best Dressed competition. Start time isn't listed, so check the link. Tickets
Tomorrow — Wednesday 4 November
Midweek Refresh Sound Bath — 12 noon to 1pm, South West Theatre Arts, The Tanyard, Street. Gentle exercises and breathwork, then a sound bath with crystal and Tibetan singing bowls. £10 per person, booking needed. Booking
Soup & Strings — St Cuthbert's Church, Wells. Newark High School Orchestra in concert, with soup from noon and music from 1pm. Price not listed. More info
Fun Dance Class — 5.30pm to 6.30pm, Chewton Mendip Village Hall. Weekly mixed-style class led by Helena Eden, with high and low impact options. £10 drop-in. More info
Abbot Extraordinary: The Life of Walter de Monington — 7pm, Abbey House, Glastonbury Abbey. A talk on the life of a medieval abbot. £6. Booking
Adult Performance Company — 7.30pm, Chew Magna Baptist Hall. Weekly drama group led by Casey Lloyd; complete beginners welcome. Free, booking required. Booking
Plus the exhibitions listed under Today are all still on.
🎬 This Week at Wells Film Centre
Showing Friday 30 October to Thursday 5 November
Ghosts: The Possession of Button House [PG] — 3pm and 7.30pm daily
Wicker [15] — 3pm and 7.30pm daily
Wildwood [12A] — Tue 7pm, Wed 3pm, Thu 7pm
Klara And The Sun [12A] — Tue 3pm, Wed 7pm, Thu 3pm
🌡️ Wells BA5 Weather — Week of Tuesday 3 November
A mild, mostly dry start: breezy and partly cloudy today, cloudy tomorrow, and hardly any chance of rain on either day. It turns chillier and showery from Thursday, and Saturday looks like the wettest day, so pack a brolly for the Shepton Rotary fireworks. Forecast read on Monday 2 November (AccuWeather); the further ahead the day, the less certain it is.
Tue 3 Nov: breezy, partly cloudy, 11°C / 6°C, 4% chance of rain
Wed 4 Nov: cloudy, steady breeze, 10°C / 6°C, 2%
Thu 5 Nov: cloudy and chilly, early shower, 8°C / 4°C, 25%
Fri 6 Nov: thick cloud, evening showers, 9°C / 3°C, 25%
Sat 7 Nov: rain and drizzle in the morning, 9°C / 4°C, 60%
Sun 8 Nov: partly cloudy, 9°C / 4°C, 6%
Mon 9 Nov: afternoon and evening rain, 11°C / 7°C, 58%
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Paul Branston, Editor
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