U-Turn on Bishop's Palace
A campaign by Country Life has succeeded in achieving a turnaround on the living quarters of the Bishop of Bath and Wells


Church of England officials have had to make an embarrassing U-turn on plans to prevent the incoming Bishop of Bath and Wells from moving into the medieval palace resided in by his predecessors for centuries (Town & Country, January 22, February 12, April 2).
A campaign by COUNTRY LIFE, led by the magazine's architectural editor, John Goodall, disagreed with the Church's idea that it was ‘not conducive to the ministry' that the Rt Rev Peter Hancock and his wife, Jane, should live in the palace. Officials had suggested that, as the group of ancient buildings in Wells is both the diocesan head office and a tourist attraction, the palace did not afford enough privacy for the bishop, who will be enthroned next month.
However, the Church Commissioners came in for much local flak when it was revealed they had purchased a Georgian property outside Wells for £900,000 in the interim before a ‘permanent' house was found. A tribunal, acting on behalf of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, has decreed that the bishop should live in the Wells palace in order to exercise his ministry effectively. ‘The Commissioners failed to anticipate the impact of their decision in Wells and the wider diocese,' the panel stated.
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An experienced journalist, Paula Lester, Country Life's Managing & Features Editor, has worked for the magazine for 10 years — during which time she’s overseen two special issues guest-edited by His Majesty The King in 2013 and in 2018, and the bestselling 2022 edition masterminded by his wife, Queen Camilla. A gamekeeper’s daughter, Paula began her career as a crime reporter on The Sidmouth Herald in Devon, before becoming Pony Club & Young Rider Editor, then Racing Editor, at Horse & Hound. Paula lives in Somerset with her two working Labradors, Nimrod and Rocky.
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