[Illustration: LINCOLN CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.]
[Illustration: "BITS" FROM LINCOLN.]
Continuing northward down the river Witham, we come to a point where the
stream has carved in a limestone-capped plateau a magnificent valley,
which, changing its course to the eastward, ultimately broadens on its
route to the sea into a wide tract of fenland. Here, upon a grand site
overlooking the marshes and the valley, stands the city of Lincoln, with
its cathedral crowning the top of the hill, while the town-buildings
spread down the slope to the riverbank at Brayford Pool, from which
the Witham is navigable down to Boston, near the coast, and ultimately
discharges into the Wash. The Pool is crowded with vessels and bordered
by warehouses, and it receives the ancient Fosse Dyke Canal, which was
dug by the Romans to connect the Witham with the more inland river
Trent. This was the Roman colony of Lindum, from which the present name
of Lincoln is derived, and the noble cathedral crowns the highest
ground, known as Steep Hill. William the Conqueror conferred upon Bishop
Remigius of Fecamp the see of Dorchester, and he founded in 1075 this
celebrated cathedral, which, with its three noble towers and two
transepts, is one of the finest in England. Approaching it from the
town, at the foot of the hill is encountered the Stonebow, a Gothic
gateway of the Tudor age, which serves as the guild-hall. The centre of
the western front is the oldest part of Lincoln Cathedral, and the
gateway facing it, and forming the chief entrance to the Close, is the
Exchequer Gate, an impressive structure built in the reign of Edward
III. The cathedral arcade and the lower parts of the two western towers
and the western doorway were built in the twelfth century. Subsequently
an earthquake shattered the cathedral, and in the thirteenth century it
was restored and extended by Bishop Hugh of Avelon, not being finished
until 1315. The massive central tower is supported on four grand piers
composed of twenty-four shafts, and here is hung the celebrated bell of
Lincoln, "Great Tom," which was recast about fifty years ago, and weighs
five and a half tons. The transepts have splendid rose windows,
retaining the original stained glass. Lincoln's shrine was that of St.
Hugh, and his choir is surmounted by remarkable vaulting, the eastern
end of the church being extended into the Angel Choir, a beautiful
specimen of Decorated Gothic, built in 1282 to accommodate the enormous
concourse of pilgrims attracted by St. Hugh's shrine, which stood in
this part of the building. In the cathedral is the tomb of Katherine
Swynford, wife of John of Gaunt. Adjoining the south-eastern transept
are the cloisters and chapter-house. The most ingenious piece of work of
the whole structure is the "stone beam," a bridge with a nearly flat
arch, extending between the two western towers over the nave, composed
of twenty-two stones, each eleven inches thick, and vibrating sensibly
when stepped upon. There is a grand view from the towers over the
neighboring country and far away down the Witham towards the sea. The
exterior of the cathedral is one of the finest specimens of architecture
in the kingdom, its porches, side-chapels, decorated doorways,
sculptured capitals, windows, cloisters, and towers admirably
illustrating every portion of the history of English architecture. Its
interior length is four hundred and eighty-two feet, the great transept
two hundred and fifty feet, and the lesser transept one hundred and
seventy feet. The western towers are one hundred and eighty feet high,
and the central tower two hundred and sixty feet, while the width of the
cathedral's noble western front is one hundred and seventy-four feet.
Upon the southern side of the hill, just below it, are the stately ruins
of the Bishop's Palace, of which the tower has recently been restored.
Bishop Hugh's ruined Great Hall is now overgrown with ivy, but the walls
can be climbed to disclose a glorious view of the cathedral.
The ancient Ermine Street of the Romans enters Lincoln through the best
preserved piece of Roman masonry in England, the Newport Gate of two
arches, where on either hand may be seen fragments of the old wall. Near
the south-east corner of this originally walled area William the
Conqueror built Lincoln Castle, with its gate facing the cathedral. The
ruins are well preserved, and parts of the site are now occupied by the
jail and court-house. Within this old castle King Stephen besieged the
empress Maud, but though he captured it she escaped. Her partisans
recaptured the place, and Stephen in the second siege was made a
prisoner. It suffered many sieges in the troubled times afterwards. In
the Civil War the townspeople supported the king, but being attacked
they retreated to the castle and cathedral, which were stormed and taken
by the Parliamentary army. Afterwards the castle was dismantled. One of
the interesting remains in Lincoln is the "Jew's House," the home in the
Hebrew quarter of a Jewess who was hanged for clipping coin in the reign
of Edward I. But the noble cathedral is the crowning glory of this
interesting old city, the massive structure, with its three surmounting
towers standing on high, being visible for many miles across the country
around.