The moat around the Bishops’s Palace was designed to divert water from low lying ground around that caused flooding around the palace:
Ralph of Shrewsbury saw through an ambitious building project to transform this damp, unstable site. He channeled the water from the wells into a moat surrounding the Palace, which acted as a reservoir. It was now possible to control the flow of the water, to limit the risk of flooding, and to power water mills.*
The moat is home to the Palace swans, they have been trained to call for food by ringing a bell at the gatehouse.
Their story begins in the 1870s, when one of Bishop Lord Arthur Hervey’s daughters first taught the swans to ring a bell at the gatehouse. You can see the bell just beneath the window on the left of the gatehouse and a chain hangs from it for the swans (and sometimes the ducks) to pull.
New generations of swans learn to ring the bell either from their parents, or from the caretakers who live in the gatehouse.*
*From the Bishop’ Palace guide to the Palace and Gardens
Lucky swans. The caretakers must be kept busy with the feeding!
It is a lovely tradition I am sure the caretakers enjoy it
That’s a big swan family!
Lovely isn’t it
From a distance, I thought it was a sari!
I can’t quite see what you see…
The swans ringing for food is a lovely tradition. I’d love to see it. They’re obviously clever birds!
I didn’t see them feeding, although I would have loved to