 Lincoln Cathedral 
Lincoln Cathedral is in Font of you
Recommendation added: 22/08/2006 23:21
By: lynrog (YSUK rating +66)lynrog has been thanked 1 times for this contribution
"Visiting Lincoln Cathedral was one of the main reasons for this years holiday in Lincolnshire, when I was about 10 yrs of age in Junior School we did a project on Lincoln and one on architecture, tying the two projects together with Lincoln's historic buildings. I was so impressed with Lincoln Cathedral I have always wanted to come back for another visit. My hubby made my year by suggesting Lincolnshire for our holiday and he took me around loads of beautiful historic buildings, I was one very lucky lady.
~~ History ~~
The first Cathedral was initially a lot smaller than the magnificent building you see today, work started in 1072, it was a Norman Cathedral denoted by the Norman (rounded) arches and it was also built in the shape of a cross.
There are three architectural features that have stuck in my mind since that project in junior school; they are the Norman arched windows, which are rounded at the top, compared to the Gothic arches which are pointed at the top of the arches and finally the flying buttresses. All these wonderful pieces of architecture can be found in Lincoln Cathedral. Sorry I digressed back to the history of the Cathedral.
It went through some restoration after a fire in 1141 which destroyed some of the roof, causing the timber ceilings to be replaced with stone vaults. After an earthquake in 1185 the Cathedral took on a major refurbishment and virtually doubled in size compared to the original building (ok, it may not be exactly double, I've not measured it, and I am only going from the pictures).
St Hugh was the Bishop of Lincoln at the time bringing his influence on the design; it is here we get the Gothic style coming in and the flying buttresses that I remember so well. There was one more major set back during its history when the central tower collapsed around 1237. Work on replacing this started straight away, King Henry III gave permission for them to dismantle part of the towns extended wall to enlarge the Cathedral and rebuild the towers, over the coming years the three towers were all given spires. These were later lost or taken down after one of the towers was taken by heavy winds in 1548. Without the spires you now have the Cathedral as it is seen today.
Although only a small section remains of the original building which can be found in the fortress-like centre of the west front, you should notice the large blocks of limestone and the round-headed recesses over the doors. The Cathedral has really beautiful architecture which stretches across the centuries.
~~ Our Visit ~~
I really wanted to show my hubby the beautiful stained glass windows of the Dean's Eye and the Bishop's Eye. Also the wonderful architecture I have already mentioned, oh and not forgetting the Lincoln Imp. He got to see these and much, much more it was lovely seeing the Cathedral cast its spell over him, he loved it, so stay with me now and I will take you on our journey.
Lincoln Cathedral is on the top of a very steep hill surrounded by cobbled streets, beautiful and elegant houses, I was as impressed with them as I was with the Cathedral. You cannot help but be impressed by this large decorative building; it simply takes your breath away. The Cathedral has undergone a lot of cleaning and restoration work which is an on going process.
We started our journey in the main entrance where we paid our £4.00 entrance fee and picked up a guide book for £3.95 (which is very colourful and informative). I asked the lady if you can still climb up the Central Tower as I remember going up there as a child and looking at the clock and the bells on the way up to the top. I wouldn't be able to do it today, but I was dutifully informed that the tower is only open on Saturdays. During our visit it came on Central News that three cellists climbed the top of the tower and played on the roof, to raise money for charity.
The nice lady informed us that a guided tour would be starting in approx 15 minutes time, but we declined as I cannot get about too easily and my hubby did not want me to feel pressured into trying to keep up.
So off we went on our own, there is so much to see and look at with the magnificent carvings, there were really very skilled people about throughout history. It is such a shame that stone masons and carpentry seems to be a dying talent. We were just looking at the polished black marble font, from the 12th century when the organ (well someone playing it) started playing the Teddy Bears Picnic. The acoustics were wonderful and a very pleasant cheerful sound to accompany our visit.
I don't remember how many times the song was played, because I was so engrossed in enjoying my surroundings. We headed down through the Nave and veered off to the left down towards the Cloister, Chapter House and the Coffee Shop. The toilets were down here as well and we were both in dire need so off we went. They did provide male, female and disabled toilets that were kept clean, functional and tidy.
After a short pit stop we popped into the Chapter House where they advertised they were holding the Da Vinci Code exhibition. I don't know what I really expected, but after watching the film the night before (which I really enjoyed) I was looking forward to seeing it. We were very disappointed but I have to say this was the only disappointment of the whole visit. All there was to see were large cardboard arches with photos of the cast and crew filming inside the Cathedral.
We were impressed with the Chapter House which has ten sides and was build around 1220; this was also supported by eight flying buttresses and pinnacles to counter weight of the enormous thrust of the vault and roof above. When you walk in the size of it is amazing and the faded paintings on the wall must have been spectacular in their day.
We moved from here to the café to have a refreshment break and rest my legs, it was a nice day so we walked through the small café area and sat outside on one of the tables by the statue of Lord Alfred Tennyson.
After drinking our tea and coffee we headed back into the Cathedral and over to St Hughes Choir, my hubby was really impressed by the wooden carvings here especially the pulpit which was a masterpiece of craftsmanship. You also find in here a 1667 large brass eagle lectern which is still used today. My hubby was clicking away with our camera taking loads of pictures.
One thing that sometimes gets missed when you are looking at everything is the chandeliers and Lincoln Cathedral has a beautiful one in Brass, this is also found in St Hughes Choir and is complemented by the dark oak surroundings.
Now for the hunt of the Lincoln Imp, I have told my hubby the story of the mischievous little devil that played havoc, according the stories that it, this all happened when they were trying to build the Cathedral, because of all the trouble he caused it is foretold that the angels turned him to stone. He is quite a character to look at with horns and claws; he is covered in feathers and sits there casually crossing his leg. We got the guide book out and worked out our location so we could find him on the diagram. We were in luck he was only a couple of pillars down from where we were standing and for 20p we could put him in the spotlight.
Excitement over we had located the Imp so we moved off and went to light a candle and say a little prayer, we did this in the Burghersh Chantry, and this was decorated with large modern pottery candle sticks and pots with sand for you to add your lighted candle to. There is a little box where you can leave your donations towards the candles.
You will see many beautiful stained glass windows whilst here each depicting their own little story and many dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. The two largest windows are the Dean's Eye and the Bishop's Eye and these can be found where the Nave crosses, where there are the North and South transepts respectively.
I was getting a little tired now and this is a large Cathedral so it was time for a break and we still had the Lincoln Castle to visit later on. We could leave the Cathedral at any time and come back if we wanted to as our ticket held true for the whole day. It wasn't until much later when I was relaxing that I found out I had missed visiting the vast libraries. I will have to tell you about these from the brochure, (which has a lovely picture of the Wren Library). Taken from the brochure 'Michael Honywood was appointed Dean at the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Cathedral Chapters and choirs had been abolished since 1643, and the damage to the fabric of the Cathedral was enormous. Honywood's great legacy to Lincoln Cathedral was his gift of the Wren Library. In 1674 he chose the famous English Baroque Architect, Sir Christopher Wren, who designed the new building over an open loggia, or walkway, on the site of the then ruinous north range of the cloister. Honywood bequeathed his vast library of around 5000 books, on a wide range of subjects, to add to the 100 medieval manuscripts already in the possession of the Cathedral, which were kept chained to the oak desks in the 1422 Medieval Library. This earlier building had originally extended south towards the Chapter House, but nearly half of it was lost in a fire, the date of which was not recorded. It is known that repairs were carried out in 1789, when the truncated exterior of the Medieval Library was faced in ashlar masonry in order to make it blend in with the Wren Library. Its roof retains mostly original timbers, bosses, and carved angels. This room is used for annual exhibitions, usually about some aspect of church history, based on the books and manuscripts from the library's collection and the Dean and Chapter archives.'
At night time Lincoln Cathedral is lit up and looks spectacular against the night sky, it can be seen form up to 30miles away.
I would most definitely recommend a visit here and it is excellent value for money if you enjoy the beauty of historic buildings.
~~ Other Information ~~
The Cathedral has its own colour magazine keeping you up to date on the goings on within the Cathedral, this is called The Lincoln Cathedral Times, it is free and comes out twice a year.
The Dean's Eye rose window has for the past 16yrs been going through a major restoration project costing £2 million. What a wonderful opportunity this became for the few Stonemasons that are about today to leave their mark on history. Even the stained glass went through some restoration work, although 70% of the glass is still original, many panels had to be re-leaded, keeping as much of the 19th century lead as they could. The glass was cleaned and treated leaving a very impressive and beautiful fully restored window that is there today.
If you wish to help the Cathedral raise the funds for the continuing restoration, they operate an Adopt a Stone scheme which starts at £25, this will get you a block of stone, for £50 you could get an etched stone and for £120 you could adopt a carved piece of stone.
~~ Location ~~
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln
Lincolnshire
At the top of a very steep hill
Thank you for sharing my experience, I hope I did not bore you too much.
Lyn x"
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