Lincoln (22/8)

Some of the flying buttresses at Lincoln

We went off to Lincoln with the intention of going to look at the cathedral, but in particular to see what they were doing to maintain the structure and how they were treating the timbers they would be needing for that project. This was being carried out in the roof spaces, which could be seen as part of the tour to the tower for a view over the city. Unfortunately this tour was booked out for the day, so we will have to put that on the list for another time.

We took the option of an audio tour which we usually avoid, preferring a self-guided tour with which it is easier to manage your own pace. It is also more difficult to remember a lot of the information, especially when you are trying to write some of it down a few days later!

Lincoln cathedral is unusual in that it has two transepts instead of the usual one. It is the third largest cathedral in England, and until it fell down its spire made it the tallest building in the world from its installation in 1237 until 1549 (it had taken over from the Cheops pyramid.

The cathedral is light and airy.
Scrutiny shows the repairs and lack of symmetry

As these buildings do (which makes the history so interesting) it had a very chequered life. A church was started on this site in 1088 in the Norman style, was gutted by fire in 1141 and rebuilt only to be shattered by an earthquake in 1185. Only the lower part of the west end with its towers are pre earthquake, with the remaining part of the structure being rebuilt in the English Gothic style. In 1237 the central tower and spire collapsed resulting in another phase of building and expansion. An elaborate stone screen was added at this time, as were the mesiricords and the angels quire. The final phase of the building occurred after the spire was blown down in 1549. It was never rebuilt and only the tower that was underneath it exists today straddling the main transept.

As usual, the cathedral suffered during the English Civil War but repairs we commenced in 1660 after the restoration of the monarchy under the direction of Michael Honywood who was Dean at the time. When the work was finally completed in 1674, he started work on a new library which was built on the northern side of the cloisters which had also suffered during the Civil War. These are notable for having wooden vaulting rather than the more common stone vaulting. There had been a small chained library built in 1422 to house the cathedral's collection of manuscripts which had previously been stored in wooden chests. By contributing £780 of his own money Honywood was able to commission Sir Christopher Wren to design a new larger one. Although Honywood donated his considerable library to the cathedral, is is still known as the Wren Library. It is considered among the finest rare book libraries in England and scholars are very welcome to explore its contents. The cathedral itself has one of only four original versions of the Magna Carta, which was displayed in the north transept.

A memorial to Joseph Banks
who loved Australian plants

Getting ready for the starter's gun!

We lunched at the cathedral and then went for a walk through town. In one of the squares we came across a veteran car rally, with the usual array of proud owners. Needless to say some of them would not meet today's pollution control standards.