Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/681

 LINCOLN 657 a little west of the castle keep. The second parallelogram extended clue south from this point down the hill towards the Witham as far as Newland, and thence in a direction due east as far as Broad Street. Returning thence due north, it joined the south-east corner of the first and oldest paral lelogram in what was afterwards known as the Minster yard, and terminated its east side upon its junction with the north wall in a line with the Newport gate. This is the oldest part of the town, and is named &quot;above hill.&quot; After the departure of the Romans, the city walls were extended still further in a south direction across the Witham as far as the great bar gate, the south entrance to the High Street of the city ; the junction of these walls with the later Roman one was effected immediately be hind Broad Street. These three divisions comprise the boundaries of the municipal and parliamentary boroughs, which are conterminous. The &quot; above hill &quot; portion of the city is not well built, but consists of narrow irregular streets, some of which are too steep to admit of being ascended by carriages. The south portion, which is named &quot; below hill,&quot; is much more commodious, and contains the principal shops and inns, with many elegant buildings and private residences. Here also are the Great Northern and Midland Railway stations. The glory of Lincoln is its noble minster. As a study to the architect and antiquary this stands unrivalled, not only as the earliest purely Gothic building in Europe, but as containing within its compass every variety of style from the simple massive Norman of the west front, to the Late Decorated of the east portion. The building material is the oolite and calcareous stone of Lincoln Heath and Haydor, which has the peculiarity of becoming hardened on the surface when tooled. In former days the cathe dral had three spires, all of wood or leaded timber. The spire on the central tower was blown down in 1547. Those on the two western towers, 101 feet high, were removed in 1808 ; good representations of them will be found in the well-known views by Hollar and Buck. The ground plan of the first church, adopted from that of Rouen, was laid by Bishop Remigius in 1086, and the church was consecrated four days after his death, May 6, 1092 ; the central west front and the font are of this period. The approximate dates of the remaining portions of the fabric may be assigned as follows : the three west portals and the Norman portion of the west towers above the screen to the top of the third story, about 1148 ; the nave, its aisles, and the north and south chapels of the west end, completed 1220 ; the Early English portion of the west front, and the upper parts of the north and south wings, with pinnacle turrets, 1225 ; the west porch of the main transept, 1220 ; the crossing, and lower part of the central tower, 1235 ; the upper part, 1307 ; the west door of the choir aisles, 1240. The south porch of the presbytery dates 1256. The east window, the finest of its style in England, 57 by 34 feet, dates 1258-88. The choir screens date 1280, the Easter sepulchre 1290. The gables and upper parts of the main transept, the parapets of the south side of the nave, south wing, and west front, and the screen in the south aisle, all date from 1225. The upper parts of the west towers date from 1365 ; their upper stories, the west windows and parapet of the galilee porch, and the chapel screens in the transept, 1450. The vaulted lantern of the central tower is 127 feet above the floor. The main transept has two fine rose windows ; the one on the north called the Dean s Eye is 30 feet in diameter. The Bishop s Eye to the south is very fine Decorated (c. 1350). The rood screen is mainly c. 1340. 1 The other buildings in 1 The dimensions of tlic cathedral internally arc nave, 252 x 79 GxSO feet; choir, 158x82x72 feet; angels choir, which in cludes presbytery and lady chapel, 166 x -1-1x72 feet; main tran- the close that call for notice are the chapter-house of ten sides, 60 feet diameter, 42 feet high, with a fine vestibule of the se,me height built in 1225, and the library, 104 by 17 feet, which contains a little museum. Among the most famous bishops were St Hugh, who died 1200 ; Grosseteste, died 1253; Flemrning, died 1431, founder of Lincoln College, Oxford; Smith, died 1521, founder of Brasenose, Oxford ; Wake ; and Gibson. Every stall has produced a prelate or cardinal; among those who have been capitular members may be named Walter Mapes, Henry of Huntingdon, Polydore Vergil, W. Grocyn, W. Outram, George Herbert, S. Pegge, W. Paley, Cartwright, inventor of the power-loom, and O. Manning the topo grapher. Lincoln, the enormous diocese of which in early times extended from the Thames to the Humber, was one of the thirteen cathedrals of the old foundation served by secular canons. History. The name of Lincoln is a hybrid of Celtic and Latin. It appears in the Ravenna geographer in the form of Lindum Colonia, and in Bede as Lindocolina. Lindum is purely Celtic, and exactly describes the early British settlement as the &quot;hill fort by the pool.&quot; Lindum Colonia was founded on the site of what is now the castle and cathedral, about 100 A.D. It was besieged by Saxons in 518, and became one of the chief cities of Jlercia. After being frequently ravaged by the Danes, Lincoln was recovered by Edmund II. in 1016. Lincoln Castle was built by William I. in 1086, which occasioned the removal of one hundred and sixty-six houses. Great and destructive fires occurred in 1110, 1123, and 1141. King Stephen besieged the empress Matilda in the castle in 1140. Henry II. was crowned there in the followingyear, as was King Stephen at Christmas 1147 ; David, king of Scots, did homage to King John, 1201. Lincoln was captured by King John in 1216, and invested by the barons in 1217. The battle of Lincoln Fair took place in 1218. The city was sacked in 1266. John of Gaunt, earl of Lincoln, married there in 1396 Lady Swinford, Chaucer s sister-in-law ; in virtue of his title he held the castle, but built himself a winter house in the lower part of the city. A parliament of Henry YI. met at Lincoln in 1466. The town was stormed by Earl Manchester on behalf of the Parliament in 1644. Antiquities. One of the most perfect specimens of genuine Roman architecture in England is the Newport or North Gate of Lincoln. It is sunk fully 11 feet below the present level of the street, and has two smaller arches on each side, the one to the west being concealed by an adjoining house. The Roman Ermine Street passes through this gate, and runs north from it for 11 or 12 miles as straight as an arrow. Many Roman coins, &c., have been found in the immediate vicinity of the gate. The other gates within the city worthy of notice are the Exchequer Gate, a line specimen of 13th century work, one of the bosses of the north arch having upon it a carved representation of the crucifixion, Fottergate and Stonebow at the top of High Street, over which is the guildhall. The castle shows traces of Norman work, the foundations of which consisted of massive beams of wood and grout ing. The hall of the old episcopal palace is 90 feet by 60 wide, and had two rows of grey marble pillars. The modern palace is at Rise- holme, 3 miles north of Lincoln. In the cloister garden are pre served a tesselated pavement and the sepulchral slab of a Roman soldier ; the splendidly carved stone coffin lid of Bishop Remigius found there has recently been removed into the cathedral. The ancient conduits of St Mary le Wigford, picturesque Gothic, and &quot;the Greyfriar s goodly conduit&quot; in the High Street, may also bo noticed. The St Mary s Guild near St Peters at Gowts is a fine specimen of Norman architecture ; another fine relic of the domestic architecture of this period is the Jews House, the mouldings of which are identical with those of the west portals of the cathedral (c. 1148). Near this is Dunestall, where the little Lincoln boy afterwards known as Little St Hugh was crucified by Jews in August 1255. There were formerly three small priories, five friaries, and four hospitals in or near Lincoln. The preponderance of friaries over priories of monks is explained by the fact that the cathedral was served by secular canons. The famous Bishop Grosseteste was the devoted patron of the friars, particularly the Franciscans, who were always in their day the town missionaries. There were fifty-two churches in the city before the Reforma tion, all the names of which are preserved. Fourteen remain or have been rebuilt. There are fifteen benefices in the city, consist ing of three rectories and twelve vicarages. There are fourteen Nonconformist places of worship. sept, 220 x 63 x 74 feet ; choir transept, 166 x 44 x 72 feet. Externally the west front is 173 feet broad by 130 feet ; the west towers are 206 feet high ; the central tower, from which booms the new Great Tom of Lincoln (5 tons 8 cvU), is 262 feet high. XIV. 83