Lincoln - Castle and Cathedral

My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this spring, so we booked a cottage near Lincoln so that the whole family could spend some time together, as they wanted that, rather than a big party. 

We were very lucky with the weather, with Easter weekend being gloriously sunny.

We spent one day in Lincoln itself , where we visited the castle. 

It has a long and varied history. The original castle was one of those put up by William the Conqueror, to make the point that he was, in fact, the conqueror, and intended to stay that way. Later, King Stephen was captured here, and the Castle was  in the midst of battles between those loyal to Richard I, and those to King John, and it now holds one of the remaining copies of Magna Carta, (Which was signed in 1215, and has remained in Lincoln ever since, mostly in the Cathedral but more recently in the Castle) and it also saw action during the Civil War, when it was successfully besieged and over run by Parliamentarian forces in 1644.

More recently, in the 1840s, a 'modern' prison was built within the castle walls, and some of the cells remain, as does the chapel, which followed the 'Separate System', where the priosoners were prevented from seeing or contacting one another, so in the chapel each had an individual box, allowing them to see the vicar, but not one another. 

It's a depressing place. 

Although very little of the original castle buildings remain, other than the gate house, the walls remain, and you can walk round them, and from them, see excellent views across the city, to the cathedral and beyond. 

The  West Front of the cathedral is covered with scaffolding at present, but it is still pretty impressive.

The cathedral was another Norman construction, originally completed in 1092, although subsequent fires and earthquakes in the 1100s resulted in lots of rebuilding. Bishop (later Saint) Hugh of Avalon, oversaw the new cathedral in  1192, and it has remained much the same since, albeit with some changes or decor and addition of lots of stained glass.

There is a wonderful vaulted ceiling, and some glorious stained glass, including some beautiful Rose Windows.

There is also modern glass -  the cathedral is home to chapels for each of the 3 services, with appropriate stained glass in each.

Detail from Air Force window

I was glad to have visited.