Autumn Holiday Part Five - Lincoln

 Today, we visited Lincoln, one of the most important and impressive Medieval cities in the UK. So impressive in fact, that the spire of the cathedral was the tallest man made building in the world for over 200 years. That gives you an indication as to how large & wealthy the town was. All through Lincoln there is charming buildings and details, and once we eventually managed to find a parking space, we were able to start exploring. We started at the bottom of the High Street, and headed up towards the cathedral.

The Stonebow, which leads into the pedestrianised part of the high street. It's home to the council, and originally formed one of the gates to the city.

Sometimes you see a place named Steep Hill, and you think, nahh, can't be that steep. I can confirm that my knees were done in by the time we go to the top! But don't try to do it all in one go, we popped into some of the little antique, craft and local trading shops along the way.

I loved this building, called the Old Norman House, it almost has a priory/abbey feel to it, particularly with the top right window with its central column. The building is home to Imperial Tea's of Lincoln, who had an incredible array of choice with all the different teas & coffees. I treated myself to a Imp's breakfast tea & a honeybush tea. Both were delicious! Worth popping in and trying something new, or alternatively check out their website, you can also have it delivered. imperialteas.co.uk

We then arrived at the square between the castle & cathedral with the Exchequer Gate at the end where they were starting to set up a market. We were planning on doing the castle first, and then the cathedral, followed by the Bishop's Palace. It was going to be a busy day!

We started by visiting Lincoln Castle, an impressive fortification, with a lot more than I was expecting. Have you ever been to somewhere that contains historical buildings, dragons and a copy of the Magna Carta? I challenge you to find anywhere that can match that! Shall we call it the holy trinity of visitor attractions?

Anyway, you get to see a lot here. There's a great self guided tour through the old prison, which gives you the history of the building, as well as talking about prison reform and the changing face of rehabilitation. There's also some gory tales too, if that's what you like! 

Some of the cells have information about the people that occupied them, as well as the restored courtroom where evidence and arguments would be presented, before the jury would decide and the judge would sentence. A big focus throughout the jail was the emphasis on light. Prison reform thinkers of the day thought that by increasing the amount of light in the prison it would improve behaviour and reduce re-offending. Quite how anyone came to that conclusion wasn't explained, but it probably did help with airflow and making the prison feel cleaner, lighter and a bit more livable. The courtroom was fascinating, having seen the one at Nottingham Jail we understood it a bit more. The prison part was fantastic, really interesting and informative, and you could see it was very well looked after.

In a small building that comes off the prison, is the room that stores one of the four copies of the Magna Carta, a famous document in English history that guarantees several rights & freedoms, although mainly to the Barons that forced King John to sign it. Perhaps the Magna Carta is more famous and well known for being on the first documents & pieces of legislation that put a limit on the monarchy's power, something that had not happened before in British history. And while the vast majority of the Magna Carta has been repealed, changed or re-written over the years, it remains and incredibly important document, and an iconic one at that. There are only 4 copies of the original 1215 Magna Carta, one at Salisbury Cathedral, the one here at Lincoln Castle, and two in the British Museum.

We then got to walk the walls of the castle, and that's when I discovered there was dragons at the castle, I wasn't brave enough to get a bit closer and try and pet them! James tried, and he ended up with his eyebrows getting burnt!

The walls of the castle are still fully complete, although have had restoration work done to them over the years. But they give you great views over Lincoln, particularly of the cathedral, which stands out amongst the sea of red brick & slate roofed houses with it's sand coloured stone.

Here you can see one of the other landmarks on Lincoln's skyline, the Westgate Water Tower. Apparently it holds 1356 million litres of water. That's a lot of cups of tea! 

Inside the Cobb Hall, just before the narrow staircase you can see examples of medieval graffiti scratched into the walls, including names, crosses, figures & even the crucifixion. Graffiti like this is so important because it was often made by ordinary people, many of whom couldn't write, or were never featured in the historical record. History only tends to record the names of the rich, famous or notable, and ordinary people like you and me are forgotten after we pass. These might look like small things, but it's often the only physical evidence we have that someone even existed. I often wonder what traces will be left of me long after I'm gone. I wonder if this blog will be my legacy, and if people will read it a hundred years into the future and marvel at some of the things I've been lucky enough to do. Maybe, but maybe not. Who knows what will remain of us in the future. 

Anyway, the upper floor of Cobbs Hall has this almost chapel like feel, but it's quite steep to get into. 

A view across the courtyard of the Lincoln Crown Court, the redbrick prison and cathedral in the background.

Inside the remains of the Lucy tower is the burial ground for many of the prisoners who either died in prison or were executed here, with small modest headstones, as well as many others without. With only the lower walls of the Lucy tower remaining, it's grown up to form a sort of quiet memorial garden. It's a good place to stop and have a minute or two to think and reflect.

A look back from the observation tower at the Lucy tower, which sits on it's own Motte. Interestingly enough, Lincoln Castle is one of only two castles to have two mottes. Hows that for a fun fact! I thought that the castle was fantastic, it was well looked after, there was plenty of accessible information and I really enjoyed it. It's £15.75 online for the day ticket, that includes the castle walls, prison museum & to see the Magna Carta, which I thought was really reasonable considering how much there was to do and see. If you'd like to know more about what's at the castle, or to pre-book tickets, head to @lincolncastle.com

We then grabbed a quick coffee, (iced caramel latte is my favourite order) before crossing over to the cathedral.

I genuinely don't think that the pictures I've taken of the cathedral have done it justice. It was an incredible building, you only have to see from the frontage just how detailed & ornate it is.

Inside, the detail continues, these fantastic slender pillars, creating a feeling of increased height. It was also very light inside as you can see, which further lightened the feel of the building. 

The Church is predominantly Gothic, there is very little of it's Norman & Romanesque design remaining. There are also multiple rose windows dotted throughout, each end of the transept. The unified architectural approach throughout gives the cathedral a feeling of continuity & planned design, something that many religious buildings lack. Also note here the use of the Star of David, although in this context it was used as hexagram and purely for decoration. 

Some of the gorgeous detailing, which would have required a very skilled mason to created. It would have taken a very long time to train & learn how to carve with this amount of precision and detail, and only the very finest masons would have been able to achieve this.

Further fantastic detailing, further highlighted with the in built lights to really create a dramatic view with light and shade.

Here's one of the glazed windows that look out into the cloister, note the splendid tracery and the emblem in the glass. The cathedral was also on a fundraising mission to help pay for the constant maintenance and renovation work that a 900 year old building needs. They were organising some sort of lottery, and if he was the monthly prize, then you can take my credit card and charge what you like from it. Fancy the church using sex appeal to raise money. It worked though, although I never found out if I did win the prize!

Heading out into the openness of the cloister, there was a tranquil feel to it, and it was a lovely time to stand and admire how beautiful it was. Especially the way that the windows and arches seemed to frame each other perfectly when lined up. I think that must have been intentional, creating such symmetry and planned lines. It was quite fantastic! 

The cathedral started construction in 1071, and has been rebuilt many times, most notable after an earthquake in 1185. We rarely get earthquakes here in Britain that are strong enough to be felt, but we do get a lot that are only recorded by seismograph. But when we do they tend to be quite destructive, and much of the fledgling cathedral was levelled. Further collapses of the main tower occurred in 1237, the enormous spire blown down in 1548, and further damage and attacks in both the Reformation & the English Civil War. It's amazing it still stands today!

We then headed into perhaps the jewel in the crown of the cathedral, the chapter house. The room is vibrant, open and full of details. It's also very light, and the acoustics are wonderful. I love the way the stone vaulting heads up the central pillar and out across the ceiling, almost in the style of a mighty oak tree. That, and the fact it has its own rose window, shows how much money would have been spent on this one room alone. It's a fantastic space, and you can only imagine the conversations and decisions that would have been made in a building such as this.

Further fun details include this intricate stained glass window with scenes from the bible (just don't ask me to name them all) and if you look closely above the carved head in the middle, you see the Lincoln Imp. Supposedly, two imps were messing about in the cathedral one day, and were told to stop by a visiting angel. When one of them continued to misbehave, he was turned to stone by the angel, while the other imp fled in fright. While there was several different folk tales and reasons as to why the imp was there, that one tickled me the most. Because what are the chances of an angel visiting the cathedral at the same time as two imps? Was there a coach tour for mythical creatures that day? One can only wonder! 

More views of the interior, and a close up of the rather slender looking pillars, and the glorious stained glass window with the under lit stonework below. It was a rather inspiring view, and proof that mood lighting is so effective when used correctly! 

And finally, again another rose window, but look at the detailing of the glass and stonework, it's extraordinary how something like that can be created. Even today, I don't think we can match some of the skills & crafts that our ancestors were able to master. But tastes change, often religious buildings set the architectural styles that the rest of society followed, but it seems in recent years it's been the other way round, with religious buildings following societies trends, having gone through brutalist styles after the second world war, to modernist & contemporary styles now, although we don't get many new religious buildings in England so much anymore. And was we were leaving, I did spot this rather confused looking monkey holding a mallet on the roof. It was almost like it was his first day on the job, and he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be doing! 

If I've bored you with so many photos, I can only apologise. The Cathedral was just sublime, and one of the most interesting and visually striking I have ever visited. For just £12.95, you can enjoy this splendid building, just as we did for several hours. And even then I didn't want to leave! If you'd like to learn more about the Cathedral and its history, check out their website @lincolncathedral.com where you can also book private tours also.

And finally, the last thing we did was pop across the road to the ruins of the Bishops Palace. I hadn't realised what the time was, and things were starting to close up around us. We had a quick look around the ruined palace, another building full of charm, and interestingly, also full of vines!

The remains of what would have been a beautiful window, but note the fragments of decorative stone, just at the top there. 

As you enter, you come through the gift shop, across the top here and down the stairs. I was paying so much attention to not falling down the stairs that I almost missed this fantastic stone detailing, possibly some sort of shelf or shine. I'd love one in our hallway though! 

In the cellar, where wine and other foodstuffs would have been stored to keep them cool and prevent perishing. It felt very cool, and could have probably fitted quite a few barrels of wine or beer in here! 

And here we were pleasantly surprised to see a small vineyard in amongst the ruins and the walls. It was a perfect suntrap, so no doubt the grapes would be juicy & sweet, but we just weren't expecting it. I know that in the middle ages there was a warm period, where viticulture became much easier and productive, but the end of the medieval warm period changed that. It's only been in the last two decades that English wine has once again been in notable production, and has also become internationally renowned and awarded for its flavour & quality.

A view of the remains of the palace, with the cathedral just behind. The palace was built not long after the cathedral in 1175. It not only housed the Bishop, but was also an important meeting place containing office space and storage for important documents & deeds. The building was severely damaged during the English Civil War, and afterwards was just left as the ruins that you see today.

Note the weathered but still visible detailing in the stonework, with these angular pointed recesses. This was possibly the main entrance to the palace, with this arch leading through. We only had a quick visit, but found it quite an interesting place. Inside the tower there was also rooms which had further information panels in them, and there's a small gift shop with some books & sweet treats to tempt you. I ended up buying a book which lists many of the abbeys & monasteries that you can visit today, both surviving, ruined or just foundations. It's run by English Heritage, so of course EH members get in for free, but to find out more about the palace, book tickets or to join EH, check out their website @english-heritage.org.uk/lincoln-bishops-palace. 

I couldn't believe it, but it was now time to leave Lincoln! I could have stayed the night here and spent more time exploring the town, but it was time to head back to the lodge where we were staying, make ourselves some dinner and then get packed up, as tomorrow we were heading to Matlock. But Lincoln is on my list of places to visit again, and I hope I get too soon!