Lincoln Cathedral

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

History

Medieval history

William the Conqueror ordered the first cathedral to be built in Lincoln, in 1072. Before that, St. Mary's Church in Lincoln was a mother church but not a cathedral and the seat of the diocese was at Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 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 two days before it was to be consecrated on May 9 of that year. About fifty years later, most of that building was destroyed in a fire. Bishop Alexander rebuilt and expanded the cathedral, but it was destroyed by an earthquake about forty years later, in 1185, while there was no bishop.

The central tower rises to 83 m (271 feet). A tall lead-encased wooden spire topped the tower before blowing down in a storm in 1549. With its spire, the tower reputedly reached a height of 525 feet (which would have made it the world's tallest structure).

It had the shrine of Hugh of Lincoln and Little Hugh of Lincoln, as well as the tomb containing the viscera of Eleanor of Castile, who died nearby.

The Lincoln Imp

One of the stone gargoyles within the Cathedral is the Lincoln Imp. There are several variations of the legend surrounding the figure.

According to 14th-century legend, two mischievous creatures called imps were sent by Satan to do evil work on Earth. After causing mayhem elsewhere in Northern England the two imps headed to Lincoln Cathedral where they smashed tables and chairs and tripped up the Bishop. An angel appeared in the Angel Choir and ordered them to stop. One of the imps sat atop a stone pillar started throwing rocks at the angel whilst the other imp cowered under the broken tables and chairs. The angel turned the first imp to stone allowing the second imp escape. The imp turned to stone, the Lincoln Imp, can still be found, frozen in stone, sitting atop his stone column in the Angel Choir.

An 1899 reproduction of the Lincoln Imp used to overlook the Front Quad of Lincoln College, Oxford. In 2000 it was transferred to the bar (Deep Hall) and another Imp was erected in the traditional position above the entrance to Hall. This has given rise to an Oxford expression: 'to look on someone like the Imp looks over Lincoln'. The Lincoln Imp has also given rise to the title of the college's undergraduate newspaper: The Lincoln Imp.

Lincoln City Football Club are known as The Imps. The Lincoln Imp is also the symbol of the City of Lincoln.

Transept rose windows

The matching Dean's Eye and Bishop's Eye. The former in the north transept dates from the 1192 rebuild begun by St Hugh; the latter in the south transept was re-constructed 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 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).”

Magna Carta

The Bishop of Lincoln was one of the signatories to the Magna Carta and for hundreds of years the Cathedral has held one of the four remaining copies of the original. It now resides in the nearby Lincoln Castle, where it is on permanent display. The other surviving copies are in Salisbury Cathedral and two are in the British Library.

Dating from the Middle Ages, Magna Carta is the most important document conferring democracy and civil rights. It is embedded in English Common Law and has been quoted and drawn on throughout the ages, from the US Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights) through to the UN Charter.

Wren library

Today

Over £1 million a year is spent on keeping the cathedral in shape; the most recent project completed has been the restoration of the West Front in 2000. About 10 years ago it was discovered that the Flying Buttresses on the east end were no longer connected to the adjoining stonework, and hasty repairs had to be made.

The problems arise because the building techniques used were groundbreaking at the time, and the builders were inventing them as they proceeded. It was not unknown for newly built parts to collapse shortly afterwards, as they learned the techniques and methods needed to build in this style. Up to this point, there were only Norman churches, which were short and dark, with thick walls and small windows. The introduction of Gothic style made churches bright and spacious, but required a new set of techniques to be developed.

The most recent problem was the discovery that the stonework of the Dean's Eye window in the transept was crumbling. It has now been replaced, but there was a period of great angst when it emerged that the stonework only needed to shift 5mm for the entire cathedral to collapse!

Lincoln Cathedral remains much loved and is visited by over 250,000 tourists a year. The peak of its season is the Lincoln Christmas Market, accompanied by a massive annual production of Handel's Messiah.

Modern controversies

In 1995, the Cathedral accepted its first female choristers in a move of modernisation. Initially, this secondary choir was only made up of six girls - Victoria Beeby, Bryony Jones, Martine Lyons, Hannah Rogers and sisters Judith and Charlotte Turner - but was soon expanded under the tutelage of Nick Perry and later Linda Hepburn-Booth. Unlike the boys' choir, the girls' choir was never funded by the Cathedral, but by the Cathedral School (now Lincoln Minster School) and does not possess a Cathedral songschool as the other choirs do. Despite initial protest, the girls' choir has slowly grown to be equal in status to the boys' choir and now serves an equal number of services. Lincoln was only the second Cathedral in the country to adopt a separate girls' choir, after Salisbury Cathedral.
A long-running public dispute between Dean and Sub-Dean resulted, in 1996, in their being asked by the then Archbishop of Canterbury to resign.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1996/07/05/ndea05.html
In August 2005, the cathedral was used for the filming of The Da Vinci Code (based on the book of the same name). Filming took place mainly within the cloisters of the cathedral, and remained a closed set. The Cathedral took on the role of Westminster Abbey, as the Abbey had refused to permit filming. Protestors led by Catholic nun Sister Mary Michael demonstrated against the filming. The Catholic Church has since distanced itself from Sister Mary Michael, claiming that she is not "in orders" and not living in a community but by herself. It appears that she was once a nun, but left her order some years ago.

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/16/nvinci16.xml

External links

Lincoln Cathedral Official Website
Lincoln Cathedral
Large collection of pictures and info on Lincoln Cathedral
Thayer's site; includes one whole book on the church
The Association of the Friends of Lincoln Cathedral
The Inside Out Guide to Lincoln website.: Visitor guide publications to the City of Lincoln

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