Most recently acting as Business Advisor in the Heritage and Conservation sector with both private clients and charitable trusts across the UK including Lytham Hall Trust & Cliveden Conservation, Jan’s career has almost exclusively been within the historic environment. Previous roles have included work within the South West for the National Trust at Godolphin House, as CEO of the Trevithick Trust and as a Board member of the Cornwall Building Preservation Trust.

Jan has a sustained interest in working with a diverse range of staff, volunteers and external advisors and professionals and much of her experience has been gathered from many fields relating to the conservation and interpretation of built, cultural and horticultural landscapes.

James Cross
Head Gardener and Property Manager

James Cross has been Head Gardener at the Bishop’s Palace since 2004.

Before this, James worked for the National Trust at The Courts in Wiltshire, Sissinghurst and Sheffield Park. James was trained at Hadlow College in Horticulture and Landscape Management. James lives in an apartment at the Palace with his wife Michaela and their two young sons.

Siobhan Goodwin
Community Engagement Manager

Siobhan works part-time, ensuring that we have a well-trained and supported, volunteer team.

Originally from Lincolnshire, Siobhan fell in love with the West Country as a teenager and moved to Bristol 30 years ago. She began volunteering at the age of fourteen, and her passion for voluntary work has continued over the years. She has had so many incredible experiences as a volunteer, and hopes that along the way she has made a valuable contribution too.

Most of her working life has been as a Youth & Community Worker for a number of charities and when she moved to Wells she spent 5 years working for Somerset County Council at Wells Youth Centre. You may have spotted Siobhan around Wells as, when she isn’t working here at The Bishop’s Palace, she runs Wells Walking Tours.

Lindsay Mann
Marketing and Communications Manager

Lindsay is involved in every aspect of marketing the Palace to the outside world, including

all PR, advertising, marketing, media liaison, branding, digital communications and much more!

Matt Groom
Digital Marketing Apprentice

Matt joined the team in September 2021, as …

Digital Marketing Apprentice supporting the Marketing function and Community Engagement team.

Laura Richards
Visitor Experience Manager

Laura joined the Bishop’s Palace in February 2020.

Having grown up in the city, Laura left Wells to pursue a career in the heritage sector. She has worked previously at the Museum of London and St Paul’s Cathedral. Returning in 2020, Laura organises and runs our public events and front of house team. She enjoys sharing her passion for the wonderful City of Wells with all our lovely visitors.

Position Vacant
Weddings and Venue Manager

Allen Stockel
Operations Assistant

Allen is our Operations Assistant and runs a fabulous team of Maintenance Volunteers.

The maintenance team comprises three volunteers. Tony Thompson’s engineering skills, Arthur Spain’s carpentry skills and Lawrence Anderson’s general handyman skills provide a broad cover for the general maintenance of the Palace. Affectionately known as Bodge-it Brothers, over the last couple of years Tony has welded us, Arthur has ‘plane-ly’ smoothed us and Lawrence has handily formed us into a great team.

Nick Hampson
Head of Catering

Nick is our Head of Catering overseeing the smooth running of the popular Bishop’s Table cafe and catering services provided by The Bishop‘s Table team.

Merryn Kidd
Director of Transformation and Development

Merryn joined The Bishop’s Palace in July 2014, having moved…

to Wells from London. Merryn spent 13 years working in the wedding list industry with names such as Wrapit, notonthehighstreet.com and Prezola. Merryn is a fan of the wildlife at the Palace and likes to relax by popping out of the office door to feed the cygnets.

Moira Anderson
Administrator

Moira joined the office team in 2011 as the Administrator.

She looks after the day to day running of the office, group bookings and is also responsible for the Membership. Moira has over 20 years hospitality and administration experience and has worked within hotels, higher education and a local authority. Born in Somerset, Moira visited Wells as a child and loved feeding the ducks on the moat. Moving back to Somerset gave Moira the opportunity to be involved in this unique historic site.

As well as overseeing the office Moira has become the unofficial swan carer and also looks after Maisie the Palace Cat.

Visitor Operations Team

The Visitor Operations Team are always on hand to welcome you onto site. With a combined love of the history of the site and its wonderful gardens, we want to ensure all visitors enjoy this magical place as much as we do. We can usually be found at the ticket office or exploring our wonderful gardens.

Trudi Gunning
Administrative Assistant

Trudie joined the office team in November 2021.

Natalie Lansdown
Head of Finance and HR

Natalie joined the team in June 2021.