Signing......................
by leics
I was really impressed by the signing in Lincoln (historical quarter). Signs were sensibly placed, useful, informative and detailed. They've also provided little machines where you can buy a map.........very sensible idea (though I didn't buy one).
St Mary's Le Wigford
by leics
You'll have to walk down into the main part of Lincoln to find St Mary's Le Wigford. Just keep going straight, through Stonebow and onwards and you can't miss it. It's a Norman church, right next to the railway line . I noticed it because of the conduit, which was built in the mid-16th century to provide fresh water for the local inhabitants. I wish I'd gone inside the church itself, because I've since found out it has many interesting bits and pieces.
Site of St. Paul-in-the-Bail
by iwys
This is the site of one of the earliest Christian churches in England. A timber church was built here in the late 4th century. This was followed by a medieval stone church, whch was demolished in 1971. There were later archaeological excavations. Then these were grassed over and a small garden was laid out here.
It is next to the big Westgate car park.
The Tournai Font
by iwys
The twelfth century font in Lincoln Cathedral was made from Tournai limestone. It is believed that Bishop Alexander ordered the font after he saw a similar one at Winchester Cathedral in 1141. The limestone was shipped from France to Boston and then up the River Witham to Lincoln.
The font was polished to give it the appearance of black marble. It consists of a large square bowl on four colonettes. The top of the bowl is decorated with carvings of leaves and roses, whilst the grotesque figures and lions climbing up the sides of the bolw are thought to represent the orginal sin that the baptism willl remove.
Medieval Bishop's Palace
by iwys
When the Bishop's Palace was built in the 12th century, it was one of the most important buildings in Britain: "the seat of power, from the Humber to the Thames, for nearly 500 years". It was the administrative centre of the largest diocese in England.
Both Henry VIII and James I were guests of bishops here.