Lincoln Cathedral (Part One)

Text and Pictures taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 

unless otherwise accredited.

Lincoln Cathedral at night

Lincoln Cathedral (in full, The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, or sometimes St. Mary's Cathedral) is a historic cathedral located in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. 

It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years (1300–1549). The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt. It is highly regarded by architectural scholars; the eminent Victorian writer John Ruskin declared: "I have always held... that the Cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have."

Remigius de Fécamp, the first Bishop of Lincoln, moved the Episcopal seat there "some time between 1072 and 1092". About this, "Remigius ... laid the foundations of his Cathedral in 1088", and "it is probable that he, being a Norman, employed Norman masons to superintend the building ... though he could not complete the whole before his death."

Lincoln Cathedral (photo taken from Castle Hill)

Before that, writes B. Winkles, "It is well known that Remigius appropriated the parish church of St Mary Magdalene in Lincoln, although it is not known what use he made of it." Up until then, St. Mary's Church in Stow was considered to be the "mother church" of Lincolnshire (although it was not a cathedral, because the seat of the diocese was at Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire). However, Lincoln was more central to a diocese that stretched from the Thames to the Humber.

Bishop Remigius built the first Lincoln Cathedral on the present site, finishing it in 1092 and then dying on May 9 of that year, two days before it was consecrated. In 1141, the timber roofing was destroyed in a fire. Bishop Alexander rebuilt and expanded the Cathedral, but it was mostly destroyed by an earthquake about forty years later, in 1185.

After the earthquake, a new Bishop was appointed. He was Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France, who became known as St Hugh of Lincoln. He began a massive rebuilding and expansion programme. Rebuilding began 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. 

The Norman West Front of Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral soon followed other architectural advances of the time — pointed arches, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting were added to the Cathedral. This allowed the creation and support of larger windows.

The Cathedral is the third largest Cathedral in Britain (in floor space) after St Paul's, London, and York Minster, being 484 feet (148 m) by 271 feet (83 m). It is Lincolnshire's largest building, and, until 1549, the spire was reputedly the tallest mediaeval tower in Europe, though the exact height has been a matter of debate. Accompanying the Cathedral's large bell, "Great Tom of Lincoln", is a quarter-hour striking clock. The clock was installed in the early 19th century.

There are thirteen bells in the South-West Tower, two bells in the North-West Tower, and five bells in the Central Tower (including "Great Tom of Lincoln"). The two large stained-glass rose windows, (the matching Dean's Eye and Bishop’s Eye), were added to the Cathedral during the Late Middle Ages. The former, the Dean's Eye, in the North Transept, dates from the 1192 rebuild begun by St Hugh; it was finally completed in 1235. The latter, the Bishop’s Eye, in the South Transept, was reconstructed 100 years later in 1330. A contemporary record, “The Metrical Life of St Hugh”, refers to the meaning of these two windows (one on the dark, North, side and the other on the light, South, side of the building): "For North represents the devil, and South the Holy Spirit, and it is in these directions that the two eyes look. The Bishop faces the South, in order to invite in, and the Dean faces the North, in order to shun; the one takes care to be saved, the other takes care not to perish. With these Eyes, the Cathedral’s face is on watch for the candelabra of Heaven and the darkness of Lethe (oblivion)."

PART TWO FOLLOWS