Lincoln Cathedral. The Cathedral Church Of The Blessed Virgin Mary Of Lincoln. (Part Two).

Lincoln Cathedral.

Photo: 25 December 2009.

Source: w:en:Ukussa

Author: Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

Until then, St Mary's Church, in Stow. was considered to be the “Mother Church”[9] of Lincolnshire[10] (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 River Thames to the River Humber.

Remigius built the first Lincoln Cathedral on the present site, finishing it in 1092 and then dying on 7 May of that year,[11] two days before it was Consecrated. 

Lincoln Cathedral’s Triforium.

Photo: 14 June 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ljuba brank at Slovenian Wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1124, the timber roofing was destroyed in a fire. Alexander (Bishop, 1123 – 1148) rebuilt and expanded the Cathedral, but it was mostly destroyed by an earthquake about forty years later, in 1185 (dated by the British Geological Survey as occurring 15 April 1185).[7][12] 

The earthquake was one of the largest felt in the United Kingdom. It had an estimated magnitude of over 5. 

The damage to the Cathedral is thought to have been very extensive; the Cathedral is described as having “split from top to bottom”. In the current building, only the lower part of the West End and its two attached Towers remain of the pre-earthquake Cathedral.[12]

Inside Lincoln Cathedral.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Some (Kidson, 1986; Woo, 1991) have suggested that the damage to Lincoln Cathedral was probably exacerbated by poor construction or design, with the actual collapse most probably caused by a Vault failure.[12]

After the earthquake, a new Bishop was appointed. He was Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France, who became known as Saint Hugh of Lincoln. 

He began a massive rebuilding and expansion programme. With his appointment of William de Montibus as Master of the Cathedral School and Chancellor, Lincoln briefly became one of the leading educational centres in England, producing writers such as Samuel Presbiter and Richard of Wetheringsett, though it declined in importance after William’s death in 1213.[13] 

Lincoln Cathedral’s 13th-Century Angel Choir. On the Left 

is the Six-Bay Easter Sepulchre and Remigius Tomb. 

Katherine Swynford’s Tomb is on the Right.

Photo: 10 January 2017.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jules & Jenny

(Wikimedia Commons)

Rebuilding began with the Choir (Saint Hugh’s Choir) and the Eastern Transepts between 1192 and 1210.[14]

The Central Nave was then built in the Early-English Gothic Architectural Style. Lincoln Cathedral soon followed other architectural advances of the time – Pointed Arches, Flying Buttresses and Ribbed Vaulting were added to the Cathedral. This allowed support for incorporating larger Windows. 

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”).

Lincoln Cathedral’s Great East Stained-Glass Window, 

dated 1256 - 1280. Architect: Simon Thirsk (1256); 

Stained-Glass: Ward and Nixon (1855).

Photo: 6 November 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: TTaylor

(Wikimedia Commons)

Accompanying the Cathedral’s large Bell, “Great Tom of Lincoln”, is a quarter-hour Striking Clock, which was installed in the Early-19th-Century.[15] 

The two large Stained-Glass Rose Windows, the matching “Dean’s Eye” and the “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 Saint Hugh, completed in 1235. 

The Presbytery of Lincoln Cathedral.

Photo: 30 July 2014.

Source: Own work.

Attribution: Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Author: Diliff

(Wikimedia Commons)

The latter, the “Bishop’s Eye”, in the South Transept, was reconstructed a hundred years later in 1330.[16] 

A contemporary record, “The Metrical Life of Saint Hugh”, refers to the meaning of these two Rose 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’s Eye” faces the South, in order to invite in, and the “Dean’s Eye” 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)”.

The Angel Choir architecture, Lincoln Cathedral.

Photo: 21 April 2015.

Source: Geograph Britain and Ireland

Attribution:

Lincoln Cathedral: The Angel Choir by Michael Garlick.

Creative Commons Attribution-

Share Alike 2.0 Generic Licence.

Author: Michael Garlick

(Wikimedia Commons)

After the additions of the “Dean’s Eye” and other major Gothic additions, it is believed some mistakes in the support of the Tower occurred, for, in 1237, the main Tower collapsed.

A new Tower was started and in 1255 the Cathedral petitioned King Henry III to allow them to take down part of the Town Wall to enlarge and expand the Cathedral, including the rebuilding of the Central Tower and Spire.

They replaced the small Rounded Chapels (built at the time of Saint Hugh) with a larger East End to the Cathedral. This was to handle the increasing number of Pilgrims to the Cathedral, who came to worship at the Shrine of Saint Hugh of Lincoln.

PART THREE FOLLOWS.