Land of Lincoln

Here's my stitching progress on Mosey 'n Me's "Spot" - the rabbit.

Another day, another train trip!

This morning King's Cross station was a-swirl with kilts.  England played Scotland (soccer) last night at Wembley Stadium.  The Scots lost in a heart-breaker 2-3.  Our train was full to the brim with Scots returning home - we were lucky to find two seats as the train was totally booked.

Off we went to Newark and then on to Lincoln - fortified by a Full English Breakfast. 

On the top left is the 16th century (1520) Guildhall.  The bottom left is the

Leigh-Pemberton House - a 16th century Tudor merchant's home. The River Withham which flows quietly through the city was full of swans. 

Though Lincoln is in the middle of the flat Fens, its cathedral, bishop's palace, and castle are perched at top a Steep Hill.  And this is the long winding street we walked to reach the cathedral.

 Yes, the street is named Steep Hill, and rightly so. The higher up we went, the narrower and steeper the street, and the more posh the shops. 

The bottom left photo shows the Jew's House and the Jew's Court. These two building are old old old as the Jew's were expelled from England in 1290 and they pre-date that event. 

We even found several examples of medieval windows.  Notice the big 'bubbles' on two of the panes?  Those are the 'ends' of the blown glass and were less expensive to buy.  

Finally we reached the top of Steep Hill Street, and there it was - Lincoln Cathedral.

Peregrine falcons perch atop a platform in one of the towers.

William the Conqueror ordered construction of the cathedral and brought Remigius de Fécamp, from France to oversee the building.  He made Remigus the first bishop of Lincoln - a huge dioscese stretching from the Thames to the Humber. The west entrance is the oldest part of the cathedral and dates from 1088. The two statues atop the spires are of St Hugh and a swineherd who gave St Hugh his life's savings to help fund rebuilding of the cathedral.

Most of the cathedral dates from 1185 after an earthquake destroyed much of the previous building.  What a wonderful space - I was pleased the nave was not cluttered up with chairs. In medieval times this is how it would have looked - though far more colorful and bustling with parishioners and pilgrims. 

Look closely at the two photos on the right.  You can see that the stonemasons did not manage to build to 'true' when they reattached the newer work to the old west facade.  The line of bosses (medallions) are off a good 18" or so.

  

After the earthquake of 1185, a new bishop was appointed. He was Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France, who became known as St Hugh of Lincoln. He began the rebuilding and expansion program. Rebuilding commenced with the choir (St. Hugh's Choir) and the eastern transepts between 1192 and 1210. The central nave was then built in the Early English Gothic style.

Lovely isn't it?

The Imp (bottom center) has become the symbol of Lincoln Cathedral.  I think I prefer the owls (bottom left) or St Hugh (upper left).

As the sun shone today, the stained glass windows made lovely mosaics on the floor.

Much of the stained glass was destroyed in the Civil War.  The window on the bottom left uses the broken bits of old glass to great effect.  It is called the Bishop's eye and looks south, the other round window is called the Dean's Eye and looks to the north.

The cathedral has a small Cloister...

And a large Chapter House with 43 seats.

It also is home to one of the four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta.

Directly opposite of the cathedral is are the ruins of the Bishop's Palace.

It once was a large and lavish place of work and home to the Bishop of Lincoln.

We walked over to look at Lincoln Castle, but did not visit.  The castle is currently wrapped up in scaffolding and under-going a large restoration project with much of it off-limits. (Photo from Wikipedia).

We did walk a bit around the cathedral area and found the location of a large temple and the remains of a Roman Well.  Those Romans!  Where did they not leave a mark?

Lincoln's street names are full of historical context - Danesgate, Silver Street, Clasketgate!

And here's a real gem for all you Pillar box fans out there.

This Queen Victoria Pillar box  was painted gold in 2012 by the Royal Mail to honor Sophie Wells, a London 2012 Olympic Gold Medal winner on the British Equestrian team.