A Visit to Lincoln Cathedral

Living In A Cathedral City

Welcome to Lincoln Cathedral - a local landmark you can see for miles and miles. Lincoln Cathedral is undoubtedly one of the greatest examples of Gothic church architecture in Europe. If you are a fan of Gothic churches, visit this part of England - Lincoln Cathedral is certainly worth seeing as you will have seen in my photos.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year to see Lincoln Cathedral. The decorations are up, the frivolity of the Christmas Market still hangs over our uphill area and people are singing in the streets around the cathedral itself. This page is about Lincoln Cathedral and the immediate area and I will be adding to it gradually over time. The photo I chose to show here is one of several dramatic night shots made possible by digital photography. I hope you will enjoy this and other images.

Photographs taken by myself, please do not copy.

Why Lincoln is a Cathedral city

A Cathedral is where a Bishop has his seat. In order to be a City in Britain, it used to be necessary to have a Cathedral. I don't know if this is still the case.

Oddly enough, although a Bishop has his Seat at a Cathedral, he is not allowed in the building without the permission of the Dean and Chapter. This can lead to some interesting conflicts at times. Lincoln has had its share of conflict too....

Lincoln is a small city. It maybe has about 35,000 dwellings so it is really not even a large town by some standards. The cathedral dominates the entire city because the position at the top of Lincoln's only steep hill makes it visible from all directions for about 30 miles

The cathedral quarter contains many fantastic listed buildings and historical places to visit including the castle, the Rest and you can see composer William Byrd's blue plaqued home - he was once cathedral organist.

Actually you can't miss Lincoln Cathedral once you are within about 20 miles of Lincoln on a clear day. Climb to the tower of Lincoln Cathedral and you can see for miles and miles. You can do that with the Google Map too.

How important were Gothic Cathedrals and why was so much human effort invested in building these spaces?

As a child, I visited Lincoln Cathedral. I remember that, for me, Tennyson's statue in the cathedral grounds was the highlight of a trip to Lincoln.

Tennyson was a poet and he had a DOG! A big hairy dog too- just like mine. A statue with a dog was something really cool. I spent many frustrating hours trying to spot the Lincoln Imp high up in the roof with my poor vision, but Tennyson's dog made up for the failures.

Bending in shimmering sunset's obeisance

As if tame

Until dark midnight pays its toll

And then you die,

Becoming hollow in the light of day,

Your soul is lost to time -

Your stones set in the permanence of decay -

An open tomb!

My love and I who love you

Walk within your tracery,

And feel God's life descend

To dissipate in fiery rays

In ignorance of heresy.

It settles nowhere Gothic,

But within our hearts

We feel a spirit tremble,

Alien to modern troubles.

Not from your tower

Does holy calm descend

Nor from your walls

Could echoing love resound

No reverence can grey rock thrill,

Or harmony from cynical choir thrall.

But we know well

That simple men have made you

In pagan innocence and Christian piety,

That put the canting privileged poetry

Of hypocrisy to shame.

Barbarians all,

With heathen tongues,

We still see supreme faith

In the creation of a thousand hands

One Will called forth

Bequeathing our mocking, moneyed age

Their gift of poverty.

We walk away,

We sigh,

For freedom

Substitute a faster pace,

For knowledge

Sacrifice our inner peace,

Our masons now,

For all technology's skills

Could never raise such walls

In twentieth century haste

And squabbling clergymen

For all their soothing lies and pretty smells

Could never match their pure mediaeval faith.

Laetitia Tadpole, 1986

(Poem and picture both used with permission, not to be copied though you may of course link to it.)

Stained Glass - the Magic of Light

Stained glass served a vital purpose in mediaeval churches and cathedrals. The pictures illustrated Bible stories for ordinary folk who could neither read nor understand Latin. Stained glass windows were vital to the poor as a representation of Christian theology that the clergy felt they should know!

Lincoln Cathedral is possibly the greatest example of Gothic perpendicular architecture. Its domes and high arches allowed for a much lighter and higher structure that could safely incorporate more stained glass than the older Norman structures had. The result is a beauty that is staggering on a sunny day as the light streams in through those Biblical story windows.

Cathedral Music Tradition

England's musical tradition is rife with choral compositions commissioned and performed by Cathedral choirs. Lincoln Cathedral has its own fantastic choir of boy choristers from the Minster School and male "lay vicars" who sing professionally for a small stipend. These days there is also a separate choir with girl choristers instead of exclusively boys. The quality of performance is excellent and worshippers like to listen to the beautiful music chosen and rehearsed by the Cathedral organist.

At Evensong the music is at its greatest, hymn singing is not so much a feature as the focus is on psalms and anthems performed by the choir itself. This makes cathedral music quite exclusive and more performance orientated than the music you will hear in parish churches where choirs are amateur and there is more congregational singing. Some people do not like this exclusivity however.

Enjoying the tranquility of Lincoln Cathedral

The Cathedral remains very much part of our lives. We often visit and there are always new things to see. A quiet prayer or meditation in the side Chapel is a way of coming to terms with life or saying thank you for our blessings. We produced an illustrated poem about the building of the Cathedral which features in Tadpole's Illustrated. Tadpole also illustrated the Cathedral guidebook under his real name. Sadly he doesn't earn royalties though.

If you have been to Lincoln Cathedral, please let us know what you thought! Thank you.