The name Wells is half Gallic and half Latin, deriving from Wella, the Anglian word for spring, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
The town had many spring wells, rising through the chalk in the area. It started to be known as Wells-next-the-Sea in the early 19th
century, to distinguish it from other towns with the name Wells. It became kknown as Wells-on-Sea when the railways were built in the
1850s, but the older name of Wells-next-the-Sea was re-adopted in 1956.