Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Encyclopedia
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town
of Lincolnshire
, England.
The non-metropolitan district
of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779.
It has several twin towns
: Port Lincoln, South Australia
; Radomsko, Poland
; Tangshan, China
; and Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany
.
The earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to the remains of an Iron Age
settlement of round wooden dwellings (which were discovered by archaeologists in 1972) that have been dated to the 1st century BC This settlement was built by a deep pool (the modern Brayford Pool
) in the River Witham
at the foot of a large hill (on which the Normans later built Lincoln Cathedral
and Lincoln Castle
) .
The origins of the name Lincoln may come from this period, when the settlement is thought to have been named in the Brythonic language
of Iron Age Britain's Celt
ic inhabitants as Lindon "The Pool", presumably referring to the Brayford Pool (compare the etymology of the name Dublin, from the Gaelic "dubh linn" ("black pool")). It is not possible to know how big this original settlement was as its remains are now buried deep beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins, as well as the modern Lincoln.
The Romans conquered this part of Britain in AD 48 and shortly afterwards built a legionary fortress high on a hill overlooking the natural lake formed by the widening of the River Witham
(the modern day Brayford Pool
) and at the northern end of the Fosse Way
Roman road (A46). The Celtic name Lindon was subsequently Latinized to Lindum and given the title Colonia when it was converted into a settlement for army veterans.
The conversion to a colonia was made when the legion moved on to York
(Eboracum) in AD 71. Lindum colonia or more fully, Colonia Domitiana Lindensium, after its founder Domitian
, was established within the walls of the hilltop fortress with the addition of an extension of about equal area, down the hillside to the waterside below.
It became a major flourishing settlement, accessible from the sea both through the River Trent
and through the River Witham
, and was even the provincial capital of Flavia Caesariensis
when the province of Britannia Inferior
was subdivided in the early 4th century, but then it and its waterways fell into decline. By the close of the 5th century the city was largely deserted, although some occupation continued under a Praefectus Civitatis, for Saint Paulinus
visited a man of this office in Lincoln in AD 629.
During this period the Latin name Lindum Colonia was shortened in Old English to become 'Lincylene'.
After the first destructive Viking
raids, the city once again rose to some importance, with oversea trading connections. In Viking times Lincoln was a trading centre that issued coins from its own mint, by far the most important in Lincolnshire and by the end of the 10th century, comparable in output to the mint at York
. After the establishment of Dane Law
in 886, Lincoln became one of The Five Boroughs
in the East Midlands
. Excavations at Flaxengate reveal that this area, deserted since Roman times, received new timber-framed buildings fronting a new street system, ca 900. Lincoln experienced an unprecedented explosion in its economy with the settlement of the Danes. Like York, the Upper City seems to have been given over to purely administrative functions up to 850 or so, while the Lower City, running down the hill towards the River Witham, may have been largely deserted. By 950, however, the banks of the Witham were newly developed with the Lower City being resettled and the suburb of Wigford quickly emerging as a major trading centre.. In 1068, two years after the Norman conquest, William I
ordered Lincoln Castle
to be built on the site of the former Roman settlement, for the same strategic reasons and controlling the same road.
, within its close or walled precinct facing the castle, began when the see was removed from Dorchester
and completed in 1092; it was rebuilt after a fire but was destroyed by an unusual earthquake in 1185. The rebuilt Lincoln Minster, enlarged to the east at each rebuilding, was on a magnificent scale, its crossing tower crowned by a spire reputed to have been 525 ft (160 m) high, the highest in Europe. When completed the central of the three spires is widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt
as the tallest man-made structure in the world.
The bishops of Lincoln were among the magnates of medieval England: the diocese of Lincoln
, the largest in England, had more monasteries than the rest of England put together, and the diocese was supported by large estates.
When Magna Carta
was drawn up in 1215, one of the witnesses was Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln
. One of only four surviving originals of the document is preserved in Lincoln Castle
.
Among the most famous bishops of Lincoln were Robert Bloet
, the magnificent justiciar
to Henry I
; Hugh of Avalon, the cathedral builder canonised as St Hugh of Lincoln; Robert Grosseteste
, the 13th century intellectual; Henry Beaufort, a politician deeply involved in the Wars of the Roses
; Philip Repyngdon, chaplain to Henry IV of England
and defender of Wycliffe
; Thomas Wolsey.
The administrative centre was the Bishop's Palace, the third element in the central complex. When it was built in the late 12th century, the Bishop's Palace was one of the most important buildings in England. Built by the canonised bishop Hugh of Lincoln
, the palace's East Hall range over a vaulted under-croft is the earliest surviving example of a roofed domestic hall. The chapel range and entrance tower were built by Bishop William of Alnwick, who modernised the palace in the 1430s. Both Henry VIII
and James I
were guests of bishops here; the palace was sacked by royalist troops during the Civil War
in 1648.
Following a recent break-in, some of the stained glass windows of the cathedral have had to be replaced.
During the Anarchy
, in 1141 Lincoln was the site of a battle
between King Stephen
and the forces of Empress Matilda
, lead by her illegitimate halfbrother Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
. After fierce fighting in the city's streets, Stephen's forces were defeated. Stephen himself was captured and taken to Bristol
.
By 1150, Lincoln was among the wealthiest towns in England. The basis of the economy was cloth and wool
, exported to Flanders
; Lincoln weavers
had set up a guild
in 1130 to produce Lincoln Cloth, especially the fine dyed 'scarlet' and 'green', the reputation of which was later enhanced by Robin Hood
wearing woollens of Lincoln green
. In the Guildhall that surmounts the city gate called the Stonebow, the ancient Council Chamber contains Lincoln's civic insignia, probably the finest collection of civic regalia.
Outside the precincts of cathedral and castle, the old quarter clustered around the Bailgate, and down Steep Hill to the High Bridge
, which bears half-timbered housing, with the upper storeys jutting out over the river. There are three ancient churches: St Mary le Wigford and St Peter at Gowts are both 11th century in origin and St Mary Magdalene
, built in the late 13th century, is an unusual English dedication to the saint whose cult was coming greatly into vogue on the European continent at that time.
Lincoln was home to one of the five most important Jewish communities in England, well established before it was officially noted in 1154. In 1190, anti-semitic riots that started in King's Lynn
, Norfolk
, spread to Lincoln; the Jewish community took refuge with royal officials, but their habitations were plundered. The so-called 'House of Aaron' has a two-storey street frontage that is essentially 12th century and a nearby Jew's House
likewise bears witness to the Jewish population. In 1255, the affair called 'The Libel of Lincoln'
in which prominent Jews of Lincoln, accused of the ritual murder of a Christian boy ('Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln
' in medieval folklore) were sent to the Tower of London
and 18 were executed. The Jews were expelled en masse in 1290.
During the 13th century, Lincoln was the third largest city in England and was a favourite of more than one king. During the First Barons' War
, it became caught up in the strife between the king and the rebel barons, who had allied with the French. It was here
and at Dover
that the French and Rebel army was defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, the town was pillaged for having sided with Prince Louis
.
However, during the 14th century, the city's fortunes began to decline. The lower city was prone to flood
ing, becoming increasingly isolated, and plagues
were common. In 1409, the city was made a county corporate
.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
further exacerbated Lincoln's problems, cutting off the main source of diocesan income and drying up the network of patronage controlled by the bishop, with no less than seven monasteries within the city alone closed down. This was accompanied by closure of a number of nearby parliamentary abbeys which led to a further diminishment of the region's political power. When the cathedral's great spire rotted and collapsed in 1549 and was not replaced, it was a significant symbol of Lincoln's economic and political decline. However, the comparative poverty of post-medieval Lincoln preserved pre-medieval structures that would probably have been lost in more prosperous contexts.
Between 1642 and 1651, during the English Civil War
, Lincoln was on the frontier between the Royalist
and Parliamentary
forces and therefore changed hands several times. Many buildings were badly damaged. Lincoln now had no major industry, no easy access to the sea and was poorly placed. As a consequence of this, while the rest of the country was beginning to prosper in the beginning of the 18th century, Lincoln suffered immensely, travellers often commenting on the state of what had essentially become a 'one street' town.
, Lincoln's fortunes began to pick up, thanks in part to the Agricultural Revolution
. The re-opening of the Foss Dyke
canal allowed coal
and other raw materials vital to industry to be more easily brought into the city.
As well as the economic growth of Lincoln during this era, the city boundaries expanded to include the West Common. To this day, an annual 'Beat the Boundaries' walk takes place along the perimeter of the common.
, and several world-famous companies arose, such as Ruston's
, Clayton
's, Proctor
's and William Foster's. Lincoln began to excel in heavy engineering, building diesel engine locomotives, steam shovels and all manner of heavy machinery.
between November 1904 and August 1905 caused by polluted drinking water
from Hartsholme Lake and the River Witham
. Over 1,000 people contracted the disease
and fatalities totalled 113, including the very man responsible for the city's water supply, Matthew Robinson of Baker Crescent. Westgate Water Tower was constructed to provide new water supplies to the city.
In the world war
s, Lincoln switched to war production. The first ever tank
s were invented, designed and built in Lincoln by William Foster & Co.
during the First World War and population growth provided more workers for even greater expansion. The tanks were tested on land now covered by Tritton Road (in the south-west suburbs of the city). During the Second World War, Lincoln produced a vast array of war goods, from tanks, aircraft, munitions and military vehicles.
Ruston and Hornsby produced diesel engine
s for ships and locomotive
s, then by teaming up with former colleagues of Frank Whittle
and Power Jets
Ltd, in the early 1950s, R & H (which became RGT) opened the first ever production line to build gas turbine
engines for land-based and sea-based energy production. Hugely successful, it was largest single employer in the city, providing over 5,000 jobs in its factory and research facilities, making it a rich takeover target for industrial conglomerates. It was taken over by GEC in the late 1960s with diesel engine production being transferred to the Ruston Diesels Division in Newton-le-Willows
, Lancashire
of GEC at the former Vulcan Foundry
, which was eventually bought by the German MAN B&W Diesel
in June 2000.
It merged with Alstom
of France
in the late 1980s, then in 2003 was bought out by Siemens AG
of Germany
, now being called Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery
. This also includes what is left of Napier Turbochargers
. Plans were announced early in 2008 for the construction of a new plant just outside the city boundary at Teal Park
, North Hykeham
. Unfortunately Siemens made large scale redundancies and moved jobs to both Sweden
and the Netherlands
. The factory now employs 1300 people and Siemens have shelved plans to build a new factory promised to its employees.
Lincolns second largest private employer is James Dawson and Son a belting and Hose Manufacturer founded in Lincoln in the late 19th century.
Located on the city's Tritton road next to the university it still operates using a coal fired boiler. Dawsons became part of the Hull based Fenner group in the late 1970s.
In the post-war
years after 1945, new suburb
s were built, but heavy industry declined towards the end of the 20th century, mimicking the wider economic profile of the United Kingdom. More people are nevertheless still employed today in Lincoln building gas turbines than anything else.
, commerce
, arable farming and tourism
, with industrial relics like Rustons (now Siemens) still in existence. However, many of Lincoln's industrial giants have long ceased production in the city, leaving large empty industrial warehouse-like buildings. More recently, these buildings have become multi-occupant units, with the likes of Lincs FM
radio station (in the Titanic Works) and LA Fitness gym taking up space.
Like many other cities in Britain, Lincoln has developed a growing IT
economy, with many e-commerce mail order companies setting up in or around the city. A plethora of other, more conventional small industrial businesses are located in and around Lincoln. One of the reasons for building the university was to increase inward investment and act as a springboard for small companies. The university's presence has also drawn many more licensed premises to the town centre around the Brayford Pool. A new small business unit next door to a university accommodation building, the Think Tank, opened in June 2009.
The Extra
motorway services company is based on Castle Hill, with most new UK service areas being built by Swayfields who are the parent company. There are two main electronics companies in the town: Chelmsford
-based e2V
(formerly Associated Electrical Industries
before 1961) is situated between Carholme Road (A57
) and the Foss Dyke
next-door to Carholme Golf Club; and Dynex Semiconductor
(formerly Marconi Electronic Devices) is on Doddington Road (B1190) near the A46 bypass just inside the borough boundary, and near North Hykeham
.
as the flagship store and has an accompanying trading estate with well known chain stores such as BHS.
Another development is also expected to be completed by 2011-12 called Lindongate which includes plans for a new department store, shops, hotel, flats and new transport facilities. The viability of proposed developments such as this may, however, now be called into question by the sudden economic downturn starting late in 2007. The scheme depends on a continuing demand for retail space, and a continuation of a strong housing market, but by mid-2008 both of these factors had become conspicuously absent.
The city is a tourist
centre and those who come do so to visit the numerous historic buildings including the cathedral
, the castle
, and the Medieval Bishop's Palace.
The Collection
, of which the Usher Gallery is now a part, is an important attraction. Housed partly in a recently opened, purpose-built venue, it currently contains over 2,000,000 objects, and was one of the four finalists for the 2006 Gulbenkian Prize
. Any material from official archaeological excavations in Lincolnshire is eventually deposited at in The Collection so it is growing all the time.
Other attractions include the Museum of Lincolnshire Life and the Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory
at the Lawn
, adjacent to Lincoln Castle
. Tranquil destinations close by include Whisby Nature Reserve and Hartsholme Country Park (including the Swanholme Lakes Local Nature Reserve
), while noisier entertainment can be found at Waddington airfield
, Scampton airfield
(base of the RAF's
Red Arrows
jet aerobatic team), the County Showground or the Cadwell Park
motor racing
circuit near Louth
.
Because of its climate, Lincoln attracts many of its tourists in summer, but also on the first Thursday of December until the following Sunday when the Bailgate area of the city holds its annual Christmas Market
in and around the Castle grounds. The market is based upon the traditional German-style Christmas market as found in several German cities, including Lincoln's 'twin town' Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. In 2010, for the first time in the history of the Christmas Market, the event was cancelled due to 'atrocious conditions' of heavy snowfall across Lincolnshire and most of the United Kingdom.
(a limestone escarpment running north-south and rising to 200 feet (60 m) in height, also sometimes called the 'Lincoln(shire) Edge' or 'Lincoln Heath'). The River Witham
flows through this gap. Lincoln is thus divided informally into two zones, known locally as uphill and downhill.
The uphill area comprises the northern part of the city, on top of the Lincoln Cliff (to the north of the gap). This area includes the historical quarter, including the cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace, known locally as the Bail (although described in tourist promotional literature as 'the Cathedral Quarter'). It also includes residential suburbs to the north and northeast. The downhill area comprises the city centre (located in the gap) and the suburbs to the south and south-west. The aptly named street Steep Hill connects the two (although it is too steep for vehicular traffic, which must take a more circuitous route).
This divide marks out Lincoln from other historic cities in England
and elsewhere in Europe. Whereas in most such cities, the chief historical buildings (cathedrals and castles) tend to be centrally located and intermingled with the present-day city centre, in Lincoln they are separate.
The divide was also once an important class distinction, with 'uphill' more affluent and 'downhill' less so. This distinction dates from the time of the Norman conquest, when the religious and military elite occupied the hilltop. The construction and expansion of suburbs in both parts of the city since the mid-19th century has diluted this distinction, nevertheless 'uphill' residential property continues to fetch a premium, and is almost invariably referred to as such in literature emanating from local estate agents. Membership of noted uphill organisations such as the Lincoln Astronomical Society, the Lincoln Backgammon Club, and the Lincoln Waits is seen as a mark of local success, and much prized.
In the UK government scale of economic deprivation for district councils which varies 1 to 5, Lincoln and Boston
have been graded as 4. However, this is an average figure, with 'uphill' Lincoln being more likely to be around 2.
, Lincoln experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is Waddington, about 4 miles to the south of the city centre. Temperature extremes since 1948 have ranged from as high as 34.8 °C (94.6 °F) in August 1990, to as low as -15.6 C in February 1956. A now closed weather station still holds the record for lowest daytime maximum temperature recorded in England in the month of December; -9.0 C on the 17th December 1981. The coldest temperature reported in recent years was -10.4 C during December 2010, although another weather station, at Scampton, a similar distance north of the city centre fell to -15.6 C, thus equalling the Waddington's record low set in 1956.
has five platforms and has a steady flow of trains and passengers passing through. Trains run to a range of destinations including Newark-on-Trent
, Grimsby
and Peterborough
. Unfortunately the electrification of the East Coast Mainline (ECML) in the late 1980s saw the demise of direct services from Lincoln into London, forcing a change at Newark or Peterborough for services via the ECML to London or changing for services via the Midland Main Line
(MML) to London St Pancras.
From May 2010, East Coast began a new direct train service to London, calling at Newark, Peterborough
and Stevenage
. One service in each direction operates weekly, although only a journey north from London happens on Sundays.
Electrification of the East Coast Main Line
prompted an increase in traffic that has led to many of the goods trains running between Doncaster
and Peterborough
being diverted through Lincoln.
This coupled with goods traffic between the Midlands
and the port
s and oil refineries in the Grimsby
, Immingham
and Killingholme
area and local passenger services operating in and out of Lincoln Central railway station
, has led to High Street level crossing
(which cuts the central shopping area in two) being closed for up to 22 minutes out of every hour. Improvements in the station area in 2008 may have sped up the goods traffic through Lincoln.
The city's MP
and the Chamber of Commerce
have suggested that this may be deterring inward investment by new employers. This has been an issue in Lincoln since the 1860s according to Hansard
records.
Up until 1986 a second level crossing crossed on High Street outside the (now closed) Lincoln St. Mark's railway station
.
bypass was opened in December 1985. Its route (to the A158) was originally proposed in October 1975 at a cost of £13.5 million. The bypass is currently exceeding its designed capacity from the North Hykeham roundabout (A1434) to the B1378 Skellingthorpe
Road roundabout, especially in the summer on weekends. The section from the end of the dual-carriageway at the B1241 (former B1378) roundabout to the B1190 roundabout is currently being upgraded to dual-carriageway. The B1190 is an east-west road through Lincoln, starting from the Nottinghamshire-Lincolnshire boundary on the (Roman) Foss Dyke
and A57
and finishing in the east at Thimbleby on the A158
near Horncastle. It originally terminated at the Canwick Road junction, then was extended to the west.
For many years the two main roads through Lincoln were the A46 and A15; there were no other main roads, and they both passed along the High Street. At the intersection of Guildhall Street and the High Street, these two roads met the A57, where it terminated. North of the city centre, the former route of the A15, Riseholme
Road is the B1226, and that of the A46, Nettleham
Road, is the B1182. The early northern inner ring-road, formed of Yarborough Road and Yarborough Crescent was originally the B1193, then an A road for many years, the A1102, from the mid-1930s and after the bypass was built, this distributor road became the B1273.
The western distributor road Tritton Road, named after the designer of the tank Sir William Tritton
, was built as the A1180. When the bypass was built in 1986 Tritton Road became the B1003. For many years after Tritton Road was built it terminated at Ropewalk, with volumes of traffic leading to either Brayford Wharf or St Mark Street and the High Street
. When the University was built, the area needed to be accessed from the west leading to Brayford Way being built over the Foss Dyke. This has eased Lincoln's transport infrastructure because the High Street and Brayford Wharf both have level crossings over the railway, whereas Brayford Way has a much-needed bridge. Brayford Way was originally part of the plans for Tritton Road well before the University was built, but the bridge over the railway to Carholme Road (A57) was strongly opposed by residents on Yarborough Crescent who did not wish it to become a rat run.
For many decades Lincoln was barely connected to the UK trunk road network until the A46 to Newark was remodelled as the dual carriageway Newark to Lincoln Improvement in July 2003 at a cost of £28 million, which has made the city more accessible, built by Alfred McAlpine
, with the contract awarded on 2 November 2001. Lincoln has its own bypass problems, however, funding for the A15 eastern bypass was reviewed in 2006 by the East Midlands Regional Assembly
, the bypass being postponed for several years with it unlikely to be built before 2016.
as previously. A graduation celebration takes place every year in Lincoln Cathedral. Bishop Grosseteste University College has no links with the University of Lincoln.
The larger University of Lincoln
started life as the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in 1996, when the University of Humberside opened a Lincoln campus next to Brayford Pool
, attracting additional students to the city. Lincoln Art College (which was Lincolnshire's main outlet for higher education) and Riseholme Agricultural College, which had previously been part of De Montfort University
in Leicester
, were absorbed into the University in 2001, and subsequently the Lincoln campus took priority over the Hull
campus.
Most buildings were built after 2001. The university changed its name to the University of Lincoln in September 2002. In the 2005/6 academic year, 8,292 full time undergraduates were studying at the university. Around 2002 there was considerable local annoyance with students' residences in the West End area. This subsided with vast numbers of student flats being built next to the Foss Dyke
and Brayford Way B1273 bridge. Student life has resulted in the building of the Engine Shed
theatre
complex on Brayford Wharf East.
, which is the largest education institution in Lincolnshire
, with 18,500 students, of whom 2,300 are full time. Also, Lincoln has an Access To Music branch, situated above Pulse and Ritzy, on Flaxengate.
, as most of Lincolnshire retained the grammar school system. Other areas near Lincoln, such as North Hykeham, Branston
and Cherry Willingham
, also have comprehensive school
s.
In 1952, William Farr School
was founded in Welton, a nearby village. Lincoln itself had four single-sex grammar schools until September 1974. In 1994 Lincolnshire County Council proposed to convert the City School on Skellingthorpe Road into a grammar school, but opinions expressed by some parents caused a reversal of policy.
Since 1992 The Priory Academy LSST, created an Academy in 2008 and using selection tests for entrance, receives A level results better than five Lincolnshire grammar schools.
In 2008 the Priory Federation of Academies was formed when The Priory Academy LSST absorbed Joseph Ruston School (formerly Ancaster High School) and Usher Junior School and was renamed The Priory Witham Academy, and The Priory City of Lincoln Academy.
Lincoln as a district historically came the lowest in the county for average GCSE results, although has improved in recent years. South Kesteven
and West Lindsey
get the best results.
, which was founded in 1894. Local radio stations are BBC Lincolnshire on 94.9FM, its commercial rival Lincs FM
on 102.2FM and Lincoln City Radio on 103.6FM a community radio station catering primarliy for people aged over 50 years. The Lincolnite is the online and mobile publication covering the greater Lincoln area. Local listeners can also tune into Siren FM
, which broadcasts on 107.3FM from the University of Lincoln
Student publications The Linc and Bullet are available both online and in print, and target the University Of Lincoln's
growing student population.
BBC Look North
have a bureau in Lincoln as an integral part of their coverage of Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. There are three TV reporters based in Lincoln serving both BBC Look North and East Midlands Today
.
Other local media outlets include Bailgate Independent, Love Lincoln and Lincolnista.
, nicknamed 'The Imps', which plays at the Sincil Bank
stadium on the southern edge of the city. The collapse of ITV Digital
, which owed Lincoln City FC more than £100,000, in 2002 saw the team faced with bankruptcy but it was saved after a massive fund-raising venture by the fans that returned ownership of the club to them where it has remained since. The club was famously the first team to be relegated from the English Football League, when automatic relegation to the Football Conference
was introduced from the 1986–87 season. Lincoln City regained its league place at the first attempt and has held onto it until the 2010–11 season when they were once again relegated to the Football Conference. Their most successful era was arguably in the early 1980s; they won promotion from the Fourth Division in 1981 and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division in the two years that followed.http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/LINCOLNC.HTM
Lincoln City were notably the first club managed by Graham Taylor, who managed the English national football team from 1990 to 1993. He was at Lincoln City from 1972 to 1977, during which time the club won promotion from the Fourth Division as champions in 1976 – The club also won the Football League Division Three North title on three separate occasions, a joint record.
Lincoln Ladies F.C. ('The Lady Imps'), as members of the FA WSL, are one of the top eight women's football
clubs in England.
Lincoln is also home to Lincoln United F.C, Lincoln Moorlands Railway F.C. and Lincoln Griffins Ladies F.C..
Lincoln also hosts upcoming sports team the Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls
. A fast upcoming female Roller Derby team, competing across the country and in Europe. The bombers are a self funded non for profit team helping pave the way for UK Roller Derby across the country.
Tangshan
, China
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
, Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
Radomsko
, Poland
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England.
The non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...
of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779.
It has several twin towns
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
: Port Lincoln, South Australia
Port Lincoln, South Australia
- Transport :Port Lincoln is the port for the isolated narrow gauge Eyre Peninsular Railway.There is also a subsidiary port at Proper Bay which may be restored to use for iron ore traffic. The export of iron ore through Port Lincoln has been approved by the South Australian Government. Port...
; Radomsko, Poland
Radomsko
Radomsko is a town in central Poland with 50,618 inhabitants . It is situated on the Radomka river in the Łódź Voivodeship , having previously been in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship . It is the capital of Radomsko County....
; Tangshan, China
Tangshan
"唐山"redirects here. For an alternative name of China, see Names of China#TangTangshan is a largely industrial prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed at least...
; and Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
.
Earliest history: Lincoln
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlement of round wooden dwellings (which were discovered by archaeologists in 1972) that have been dated to the 1st century BC This settlement was built by a deep pool (the modern Brayford Pool
Brayford Pool
The Brayford Pool is a natural lake formed from a widening of the River Witham in the centre of the city of Lincoln in England. It was used as a port by the Romans - who connected it to the River Trent by constructing the Foss Dyke - and has a long industrial heritage.-History:The Pool has been the...
) in the River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
at the foot of a large hill (on which the Normans later built Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
and Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
) .
The origins of the name Lincoln may come from this period, when the settlement is thought to have been named in the Brythonic language
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
of Iron Age Britain's Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic inhabitants as Lindon "The Pool", presumably referring to the Brayford Pool (compare the etymology of the name Dublin, from the Gaelic "dubh linn" ("black pool")). It is not possible to know how big this original settlement was as its remains are now buried deep beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins, as well as the modern Lincoln.
Roman history: Lindum Colonia
The Romans conquered this part of Britain in AD 48 and shortly afterwards built a legionary fortress high on a hill overlooking the natural lake formed by the widening of the River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
(the modern day Brayford Pool
Brayford Pool
The Brayford Pool is a natural lake formed from a widening of the River Witham in the centre of the city of Lincoln in England. It was used as a port by the Romans - who connected it to the River Trent by constructing the Foss Dyke - and has a long industrial heritage.-History:The Pool has been the...
) and at the northern end of the Fosse Way
Fosse Way
The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...
Roman road (A46). The Celtic name Lindon was subsequently Latinized to Lindum and given the title Colonia when it was converted into a settlement for army veterans.
The conversion to a colonia was made when the legion moved on to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
(Eboracum) in AD 71. Lindum colonia or more fully, Colonia Domitiana Lindensium, after its founder Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
, was established within the walls of the hilltop fortress with the addition of an extension of about equal area, down the hillside to the waterside below.
It became a major flourishing settlement, accessible from the sea both through the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
and through the River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
, and was even the provincial capital of Flavia Caesariensis
Flavia Caesariensis
Flavia Caesariensis was one of the provinces of Roman Britain.It was created in the early 4th century under the reforms of Diocletian and it has been suggested that its capital may have been at Lincoln...
when the province of Britannia Inferior
Britannia Inferior
Britannia Inferior was a subdivision of the Roman province of Britannia established c. 214 by the emperor Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus. Located in modern northern England, the region was governed from the city of Eboracum by a praetorian legate in command of a single legion stationed in...
was subdivided in the early 4th century, but then it and its waterways fell into decline. By the close of the 5th century the city was largely deserted, although some occupation continued under a Praefectus Civitatis, for Saint Paulinus
Paulinus of York
Paulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group...
visited a man of this office in Lincoln in AD 629.
AD 410–1066
During this period the Latin name Lindum Colonia was shortened in Old English to become 'Lincylene'.
After the first destructive Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
raids, the city once again rose to some importance, with oversea trading connections. In Viking times Lincoln was a trading centre that issued coins from its own mint, by far the most important in Lincolnshire and by the end of the 10th century, comparable in output to the mint at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. After the establishment of Dane Law
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
in 886, Lincoln became one of The Five Boroughs
Five Burghs
The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia . These were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford...
in the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
. Excavations at Flaxengate reveal that this area, deserted since Roman times, received new timber-framed buildings fronting a new street system, ca 900. Lincoln experienced an unprecedented explosion in its economy with the settlement of the Danes. Like York, the Upper City seems to have been given over to purely administrative functions up to 850 or so, while the Lower City, running down the hill towards the River Witham, may have been largely deserted. By 950, however, the banks of the Witham were newly developed with the Lower City being resettled and the suburb of Wigford quickly emerging as a major trading centre.. In 1068, two years after the Norman conquest, William I
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
ordered Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
to be built on the site of the former Roman settlement, for the same strategic reasons and controlling the same road.
Cathedral
Construction of the first Lincoln CathedralLincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
, within its close or walled precinct facing the castle, began when the see was removed from Dorchester
Dorchester, Oxfordshire
Dorchester-on-Thames is a village and civil parish on the River Thame in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Wallingford and southeast of Oxford. Despite its name, Dorchester is not on the River Thames, but just above the Thame's confluence with it...
and completed in 1092; it was rebuilt after a fire but was destroyed by an unusual earthquake in 1185. The rebuilt Lincoln Minster, enlarged to the east at each rebuilding, was on a magnificent scale, its crossing tower crowned by a spire reputed to have been 525 ft (160 m) high, the highest in Europe. When completed the central of the three spires is widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt
Egyptian pyramids
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt.There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found...
as the tallest man-made structure in the world.
The bishops of Lincoln were among the magnates of medieval England: the diocese of Lincoln
Diocese of Lincoln
The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire.- History :...
, the largest in England, had more monasteries than the rest of England put together, and the diocese was supported by large estates.
When Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
was drawn up in 1215, one of the witnesses was Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
. One of only four surviving originals of the document is preserved in Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
.
Among the most famous bishops of Lincoln were Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet was a medieval English bishop and a Chancellor of England. Born into a noble Norman family, he became a royal clerk under King William I of England. Under William I's son and successor King William II, Bloet was first named chancellor then appointed to the see of Lincoln...
, the magnificent justiciar
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
to Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
; Hugh of Avalon, the cathedral builder canonised as St Hugh of Lincoln; Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, the 13th century intellectual; Henry Beaufort, a politician deeply involved in the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
; Philip Repyngdon, chaplain to Henry IV of England
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
and defender of Wycliffe
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
; Thomas Wolsey.
The administrative centre was the Bishop's Palace, the third element in the central complex. When it was built in the late 12th century, the Bishop's Palace was one of the most important buildings in England. Built by the canonised bishop Hugh of Lincoln
Hugh of Lincoln
Hugh of Lincoln was at the time of the Reformation the best-known English saint after Thomas Becket.-Life:...
, the palace's East Hall range over a vaulted under-croft is the earliest surviving example of a roofed domestic hall. The chapel range and entrance tower were built by Bishop William of Alnwick, who modernised the palace in the 1430s. Both Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
were guests of bishops here; the palace was sacked by royalist troops during the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
in 1648.
Following a recent break-in, some of the stained glass windows of the cathedral have had to be replaced.
Medieval town
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
, in 1141 Lincoln was the site of a battle
Battle of Lincoln (1141)
The Battle of Lincoln or First Battle of Lincoln occurred on 2 February 1141. In it Stephen of England was captured, imprisoned and effectively deposed while Empress Matilda ruled for a short time.-Account:...
between King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
and the forces of Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, lead by her illegitimate halfbrother Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
. After fierce fighting in the city's streets, Stephen's forces were defeated. Stephen himself was captured and taken to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
By 1150, Lincoln was among the wealthiest towns in England. The basis of the economy was cloth and wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, exported to Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
; Lincoln weavers
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
had set up a guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
in 1130 to produce Lincoln Cloth, especially the fine dyed 'scarlet' and 'green', the reputation of which was later enhanced by Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
wearing woollens of Lincoln green
Lincoln green
Lincoln green is the color of dyed woollen cloth associated with Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. The dyers of Lincoln, a cloth town in the high Middle Ages, produced the cloth by dyeing it with woad to give it a strong blue, then overdyeing it yellow with weld or...
. In the Guildhall that surmounts the city gate called the Stonebow, the ancient Council Chamber contains Lincoln's civic insignia, probably the finest collection of civic regalia.
Outside the precincts of cathedral and castle, the old quarter clustered around the Bailgate, and down Steep Hill to the High Bridge
High Bridge, Lincoln
The High Bridge in Lincoln, England is the oldest bridge in the United Kingdom which still has buildings on it. It was built about 1160 A.D. and a chapel built in 1235 dedicated to Thomas Becket was removed in 1762 with the current row of shops dating from 1550...
, which bears half-timbered housing, with the upper storeys jutting out over the river. There are three ancient churches: St Mary le Wigford and St Peter at Gowts are both 11th century in origin and St Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
, built in the late 13th century, is an unusual English dedication to the saint whose cult was coming greatly into vogue on the European continent at that time.
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, spread to Lincoln; the Jewish community took refuge with royal officials, but their habitations were plundered. The so-called 'House of Aaron' has a two-storey street frontage that is essentially 12th century and a nearby Jew's House
Jew's House
The Jew's House is one of the earliest extant town houses in England. It lies on Steep Hill in Lincoln, immediately below Jew's Court.Dating from the mid-twelfth century, the building originally consisted of a hall at first floor level, measuring approximately 12 by 6 metres, above service and...
likewise bears witness to the Jewish population. In 1255, the affair called 'The Libel of Lincoln'
Blood libel
Blood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...
in which prominent Jews of Lincoln, accused of the ritual murder of a Christian boy ('Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln
Hugh of Lincoln was an English boy, whose death prompted a blood libel with ramifications that reach until today. Hugh is known as Little Saint Hugh to distinguish him from Saint Hugh, otherwise Hugh of Lincoln. The style is often corrupted to Little Sir Hugh...
' in medieval folklore) were sent to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
and 18 were executed. The Jews were expelled en masse in 1290.
During the 13th century, Lincoln was the third largest city in England and was a favourite of more than one king. During the First Barons' War
First Barons' War
The First Barons' War was a civil war in the Kingdom of England, between a group of rebellious barons—led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France—and King John of England...
, it became caught up in the strife between the king and the rebel barons, who had allied with the French. It was here
Battle of Lincoln (1217)
The Second Battle of Lincoln occurred at Lincoln Castle on 20 May 1217, during the First Barons' War, between the forces of the future Louis VIII of France and those of King Henry III of England. Louis' forces were attacked by a relief force under the command of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke...
and at Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
that the French and Rebel army was defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, the town was pillaged for having sided with Prince Louis
Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226...
.
However, during the 14th century, the city's fortunes began to decline. The lower city was prone to flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing, becoming increasingly isolated, and plagues
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
were common. In 1409, the city was made a county corporate
County corporate
A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland and Wales.Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties...
.
16th century
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
further exacerbated Lincoln's problems, cutting off the main source of diocesan income and drying up the network of patronage controlled by the bishop, with no less than seven monasteries within the city alone closed down. This was accompanied by closure of a number of nearby parliamentary abbeys which led to a further diminishment of the region's political power. When the cathedral's great spire rotted and collapsed in 1549 and was not replaced, it was a significant symbol of Lincoln's economic and political decline. However, the comparative poverty of post-medieval Lincoln preserved pre-medieval structures that would probably have been lost in more prosperous contexts.
Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Lincoln was on the frontier between the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
and Parliamentary
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
forces and therefore changed hands several times. Many buildings were badly damaged. Lincoln now had no major industry, no easy access to the sea and was poorly placed. As a consequence of this, while the rest of the country was beginning to prosper in the beginning of the 18th century, Lincoln suffered immensely, travellers often commenting on the state of what had essentially become a 'one street' town.
Georgian Age
By the Georgian eraGeorgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
, Lincoln's fortunes began to pick up, thanks in part to the Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant...
. The re-opening of the Foss Dyke
Foss Dyke
The Foss Dyke, or Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use. It is usually thought to have been built around 120 AD by the Romans, but there is no consensus among authors...
canal allowed coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and other raw materials vital to industry to be more easily brought into the city.
As well as the economic growth of Lincoln during this era, the city boundaries expanded to include the West Common. To this day, an annual 'Beat the Boundaries' walk takes place along the perimeter of the common.
Industrial Revolution
Coupled with the arrival of the railway links, Lincoln boomed again during the Industrial RevolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, and several world-famous companies arose, such as Ruston's
Ruston (engine builder)
Ruston & Hornsby, later known as Ruston, was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, the company's history going back to 1840. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars, steam...
, Clayton
Clayton & Shuttleworth
Clayton & Shuttleworth was an engineering company located at Stamp End Works, Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The company was established in 1842 when Nathaniel Clayton formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Joseph Shuttleworth .-History:...
's, Proctor
Proctor
Proctor, a variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory.The title is used in England in three principal senses:...
's and William Foster's. Lincoln began to excel in heavy engineering, building diesel engine locomotives, steam shovels and all manner of heavy machinery.
20th century
Lincoln was hit by a major typhoid epidemicEpidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
between November 1904 and August 1905 caused by polluted drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
from Hartsholme Lake and the River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
. Over 1,000 people contracted the disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
and fatalities totalled 113, including the very man responsible for the city's water supply, Matthew Robinson of Baker Crescent. Westgate Water Tower was constructed to provide new water supplies to the city.
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s, Lincoln switched to war production. The first ever tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s were invented, designed and built in Lincoln by William Foster & Co.
William Foster & Co.
William Foster & Co Ltd was an agricultural machinery company based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England and usually just called "Fosters of Lincoln." The company can be traced back to 1846, when William Foster purchased a flour mill in Lincoln. William Foster then proceeded to start small scale...
during the First World War and population growth provided more workers for even greater expansion. The tanks were tested on land now covered by Tritton Road (in the south-west suburbs of the city). During the Second World War, Lincoln produced a vast array of war goods, from tanks, aircraft, munitions and military vehicles.
Ruston and Hornsby produced diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s for ships and locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s, then by teaming up with former colleagues of Frank Whittle
Frank Whittle
Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Air Force engineer officer. He is credited with independently inventing the turbojet engine Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907 – 9 August 1996) was a British Royal Air...
and Power Jets
Power Jets
Power Jets Ltd was a United Kingdom company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines.-History:Founded on January 27, 1936, the company consisted of Whittle, Rolf Dudley-Williams, James Collingwood Tinling, and Lancelot Law Whyte of investment bankers O T...
Ltd, in the early 1950s, R & H (which became RGT) opened the first ever production line to build gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
engines for land-based and sea-based energy production. Hugely successful, it was largest single employer in the city, providing over 5,000 jobs in its factory and research facilities, making it a rich takeover target for industrial conglomerates. It was taken over by GEC in the late 1960s with diesel engine production being transferred to the Ruston Diesels Division in Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows is a small market town within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is situated about midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, to the east of St Helens, to the north of Warrington and to the south of...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
of GEC at the former Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry was a British locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire .-History:It was originally opened in 1832 as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway...
, which was eventually bought by the German MAN B&W Diesel
MAN B&W Diesel
MAN Diesel SE was a provider of large-bore diesel engines for marine propulsion systems and power plant applications. MAN Diesel employs over 7,700 staff, primarily in Germany, Denmark, France, the Czech Republic, India and China...
in June 2000.
It merged with Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the late 1980s, then in 2003 was bought out by Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, now being called Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery
Siemens Power Generation
Siemens Power Generation, Inc is a power generation company based in the United States run by the German Siemens AG Corporation.SPGI was formed by the acquisition and merger of the non-nuclear energy divisions of Westinghouse Electric Company by the Siemens power generation division in 1997; the...
. This also includes what is left of Napier Turbochargers
Napier & Son
D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engine and pre-Great War automobile manufacturer and one of the most important aircraft engine manufacturers in the early to mid-20th century...
. Plans were announced early in 2008 for the construction of a new plant just outside the city boundary at Teal Park
Teal Park
Teal Park is a public greenspace is Horseheads, New York. The land for the park was donated to the town in 1807. In 1910, political cartoonist Eugene Zimmerman, a resident of the town, designed the bandstand still standing today, known as the Zim bandstand....
, North Hykeham
North Hykeham
North Hykeham is administratively a town immediately south of Lincoln, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Geographically it is part of the greater Lincoln urban sprawl, and comprises 4,915 dwellings...
. Unfortunately Siemens made large scale redundancies and moved jobs to both Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The factory now employs 1300 people and Siemens have shelved plans to build a new factory promised to its employees.
Lincolns second largest private employer is James Dawson and Son a belting and Hose Manufacturer founded in Lincoln in the late 19th century.
Located on the city's Tritton road next to the university it still operates using a coal fired boiler. Dawsons became part of the Hull based Fenner group in the late 1970s.
In the post-war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
years after 1945, new suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s were built, but heavy industry declined towards the end of the 20th century, mimicking the wider economic profile of the United Kingdom. More people are nevertheless still employed today in Lincoln building gas turbines than anything else.
Economy
Lincoln's economy is based mainly on public administrationGovernment
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
, commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, arable farming and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, with industrial relics like Rustons (now Siemens) still in existence. However, many of Lincoln's industrial giants have long ceased production in the city, leaving large empty industrial warehouse-like buildings. More recently, these buildings have become multi-occupant units, with the likes of Lincs FM
Lincs FM
Lincs FM is an Independent Local Radio station serving Lincolnshire and Newark, from the Humber to The Wash. It is the current holder of the licence which was advertised by the Radio Authority on 4 March 1991.-Background:...
radio station (in the Titanic Works) and LA Fitness gym taking up space.
Like many other cities in Britain, Lincoln has developed a growing IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
economy, with many e-commerce mail order companies setting up in or around the city. A plethora of other, more conventional small industrial businesses are located in and around Lincoln. One of the reasons for building the university was to increase inward investment and act as a springboard for small companies. The university's presence has also drawn many more licensed premises to the town centre around the Brayford Pool. A new small business unit next door to a university accommodation building, the Think Tank, opened in June 2009.
The Extra
Extra (service areas)
Extra MSA Services Ltd is a company which operates motorway service stations in the United Kingdom, as well as areas on primary routes. It is based on Castle Hill, Lincoln close to Lincoln Cathedral. It is also known as Extra MSA Forecourts Ltd....
motorway services company is based on Castle Hill, with most new UK service areas being built by Swayfields who are the parent company. There are two main electronics companies in the town: Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
-based e2V
English Electric Valve Company
The English Electric Valve Company or EEV, is a specialist component and sub-system designer, developer and manufacturer. As e2v it has 6 European and US manufacturing facilities and its HQ in Essex, England....
(formerly Associated Electrical Industries
Associated Electrical Industries
Associated Electrical Industries was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies...
before 1961) is situated between Carholme Road (A57
A57 road
The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln, via Warrington, Cadishead, Irlam, Patricroft, Eccles, Salford and Manchester, then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass , around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop...
) and the Foss Dyke
Foss Dyke
The Foss Dyke, or Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use. It is usually thought to have been built around 120 AD by the Romans, but there is no consensus among authors...
next-door to Carholme Golf Club; and Dynex Semiconductor
Dynex Semiconductor
Dynex Semiconductor based in Lincoln, United Kingdom is a global supplier of products and services specialising in the field of power semiconductor devices and silicon on sapphire integrated circuit products...
(formerly Marconi Electronic Devices) is on Doddington Road (B1190) near the A46 bypass just inside the borough boundary, and near North Hykeham
North Hykeham
North Hykeham is administratively a town immediately south of Lincoln, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Geographically it is part of the greater Lincoln urban sprawl, and comprises 4,915 dwellings...
.
Retail parks
Around the Tritton Road (B1003) trading estate, many new businesses have begun trading from large units with car parking. Lincoln has a choice of five large national supermarkets. The recently developed St Mark's Square complex has DebenhamsDebenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
as the flagship store and has an accompanying trading estate with well known chain stores such as BHS.
Another development is also expected to be completed by 2011-12 called Lindongate which includes plans for a new department store, shops, hotel, flats and new transport facilities. The viability of proposed developments such as this may, however, now be called into question by the sudden economic downturn starting late in 2007. The scheme depends on a continuing demand for retail space, and a continuation of a strong housing market, but by mid-2008 both of these factors had become conspicuously absent.
Tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
centre and those who come do so to visit the numerous historic buildings including the cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
, the castle
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
, and the Medieval Bishop's Palace.
The Collection
The Collection (Lincolnshire)
The Collection is the county museum and gallery for Lincolnshire in England. It is an amalgamation of the Usher Gallery and the City and County Museum in such a way that they can work more effectively together than hitherto...
, of which the Usher Gallery is now a part, is an important attraction. Housed partly in a recently opened, purpose-built venue, it currently contains over 2,000,000 objects, and was one of the four finalists for the 2006 Gulbenkian Prize
Gulbenkian Prize
The Art Fund Prize, formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a museum or gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of imagination, innovation and excellence"...
. Any material from official archaeological excavations in Lincolnshire is eventually deposited at in The Collection so it is growing all the time.
Other attractions include the Museum of Lincolnshire Life and the Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory
The Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory
The Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England is named after the British explorer and naturalist who, as long-time president of the Royal Society, became known for his promotion of science.-About the Conservatory:...
at the Lawn
The Lawn, Lincoln
The Lawn, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England is a notable Greek revival building constructed as a psychiatric hospital which now operates as a catering hall....
, adjacent to Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
. Tranquil destinations close by include Whisby Nature Reserve and Hartsholme Country Park (including the Swanholme Lakes Local Nature Reserve
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
), while noisier entertainment can be found at Waddington airfield
RAF Waddington
RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.-Formation:Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916 until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance....
, Scampton airfield
RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Station Scampton is a Royal Air Force station situated north of Lincoln in England, near the village of Scampton, on the site of an old First World War landing field.-First World War:...
(base of the RAF's
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Red Arrows
Red Arrows
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Scampton, but due to move to RAF Waddington in 2011...
jet aerobatic team), the County Showground or the Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park is a motor racing circuit in Lincolnshire, England, south of Louth. It is owned and operated by Jonathan Palmer's Motorsport Vision company....
motor racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
circuit near Louth
Louth, Lincolnshire
Louth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...
.
Because of its climate, Lincoln attracts many of its tourists in summer, but also on the first Thursday of December until the following Sunday when the Bailgate area of the city holds its annual Christmas Market
Lincoln Christmas Market
Lincoln Christmas Market, held in Lincoln, England, is one of the largest Christmas markets in Europe, attracting up to 250,000 visitors over the four day event....
in and around the Castle grounds. The market is based upon the traditional German-style Christmas market as found in several German cities, including Lincoln's 'twin town' Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. In 2010, for the first time in the history of the Christmas Market, the event was cancelled due to 'atrocious conditions' of heavy snowfall across Lincolnshire and most of the United Kingdom.
Topography: 'uphill' and 'downhill'
Lincoln is built at the point where there is a gap in the Lincoln CliffLincoln Cliff
The Lincoln Cliff is the portion of a major escarpment that runs north-south through Lindsey and Kesteven, in central Lincolnshire and is a prominent landscape feature in a generally flat portion of the county...
(a limestone escarpment running north-south and rising to 200 feet (60 m) in height, also sometimes called the 'Lincoln(shire) Edge' or 'Lincoln Heath'). The River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
flows through this gap. Lincoln is thus divided informally into two zones, known locally as uphill and downhill.
The uphill area comprises the northern part of the city, on top of the Lincoln Cliff (to the north of the gap). This area includes the historical quarter, including the cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace, known locally as the Bail (although described in tourist promotional literature as 'the Cathedral Quarter'). It also includes residential suburbs to the north and northeast. The downhill area comprises the city centre (located in the gap) and the suburbs to the south and south-west. The aptly named street Steep Hill connects the two (although it is too steep for vehicular traffic, which must take a more circuitous route).
This divide marks out Lincoln from other historic cities in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and elsewhere in Europe. Whereas in most such cities, the chief historical buildings (cathedrals and castles) tend to be centrally located and intermingled with the present-day city centre, in Lincoln they are separate.
The divide was also once an important class distinction, with 'uphill' more affluent and 'downhill' less so. This distinction dates from the time of the Norman conquest, when the religious and military elite occupied the hilltop. The construction and expansion of suburbs in both parts of the city since the mid-19th century has diluted this distinction, nevertheless 'uphill' residential property continues to fetch a premium, and is almost invariably referred to as such in literature emanating from local estate agents. Membership of noted uphill organisations such as the Lincoln Astronomical Society, the Lincoln Backgammon Club, and the Lincoln Waits is seen as a mark of local success, and much prized.
In the UK government scale of economic deprivation for district councils which varies 1 to 5, Lincoln and Boston
Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
have been graded as 4. However, this is an average figure, with 'uphill' Lincoln being more likely to be around 2.
Climate
As with the rest of the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, Lincoln experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is Waddington, about 4 miles to the south of the city centre. Temperature extremes since 1948 have ranged from as high as 34.8 °C (94.6 °F) in August 1990, to as low as -15.6 C in February 1956. A now closed weather station still holds the record for lowest daytime maximum temperature recorded in England in the month of December; -9.0 C on the 17th December 1981. The coldest temperature reported in recent years was -10.4 C during December 2010, although another weather station, at Scampton, a similar distance north of the city centre fell to -15.6 C, thus equalling the Waddington's record low set in 1956.
Railway
The stationLincoln Central railway station
Lincoln Central railway station serves the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The station is operated by East Midlands Trains, who provide services along with Northern Rail and East Coast....
has five platforms and has a steady flow of trains and passengers passing through. Trains run to a range of destinations including Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
, Grimsby
Grimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
and Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
. Unfortunately the electrification of the East Coast Mainline (ECML) in the late 1980s saw the demise of direct services from Lincoln into London, forcing a change at Newark or Peterborough for services via the ECML to London or changing for services via the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
(MML) to London St Pancras.
From May 2010, East Coast began a new direct train service to London, calling at Newark, Peterborough
Peterborough railway station
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
and Stevenage
Stevenage railway station
Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27¼ miles north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect...
. One service in each direction operates weekly, although only a journey north from London happens on Sundays.
Level crossings
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
prompted an increase in traffic that has led to many of the goods trains running between Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
and Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
being diverted through Lincoln.
This coupled with goods traffic between the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and the port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
s and oil refineries in the Grimsby
Grimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
, Immingham
Immingham
Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...
and Killingholme
Killingholme
Killingholme is an area of Lincolnshire, comprising the villages of North Killingholme and South Killingholme. It is the site of two oil refineries, the Humber Refinery and Lindsey Oil Refinery, and an liquid petroleum gas storage facility .It is also a fast expanding port, handling RORO ferries...
area and local passenger services operating in and out of Lincoln Central railway station
Lincoln Central railway station
Lincoln Central railway station serves the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The station is operated by East Midlands Trains, who provide services along with Northern Rail and East Coast....
, has led to High Street level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
(which cuts the central shopping area in two) being closed for up to 22 minutes out of every hour. Improvements in the station area in 2008 may have sped up the goods traffic through Lincoln.
The city's MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and the Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
have suggested that this may be deterring inward investment by new employers. This has been an issue in Lincoln since the 1860s according to Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...
records.
Up until 1986 a second level crossing crossed on High Street outside the (now closed) Lincoln St. Mark's railway station
Lincoln St. Marks railway station
Lincoln St. Marks is a closed railway station on the Nottingham to Lincoln Line.-History:St. Mark's railway station, the first in Lincoln, was opened by the Midland Railway in 1846. Originally a terminus the line was extended through the station only a few years after opening to connect with the...
.
Roads
The £19-million A46A46 road
The A46 is an A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development...
bypass was opened in December 1985. Its route (to the A158) was originally proposed in October 1975 at a cost of £13.5 million. The bypass is currently exceeding its designed capacity from the North Hykeham roundabout (A1434) to the B1378 Skellingthorpe
Skellingthorpe
Skellingthorpe is a large village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, located 4 miles / 6.5 km southwest of Lincoln city centre.It is near the A46 near the roundabout with the B1378 Skellingthorpe Road. This is near to the Birchwood estate, which is built on the site of RAF...
Road roundabout, especially in the summer on weekends. The section from the end of the dual-carriageway at the B1241 (former B1378) roundabout to the B1190 roundabout is currently being upgraded to dual-carriageway. The B1190 is an east-west road through Lincoln, starting from the Nottinghamshire-Lincolnshire boundary on the (Roman) Foss Dyke
Foss Dyke
The Foss Dyke, or Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use. It is usually thought to have been built around 120 AD by the Romans, but there is no consensus among authors...
and A57
A57 road
The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln, via Warrington, Cadishead, Irlam, Patricroft, Eccles, Salford and Manchester, then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass , around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop...
and finishing in the east at Thimbleby on the A158
A158 road
The A158 road is a major tourist route that heads from Lincoln in the west to Skegness on the east coast. The road is located entirely in the county of Lincolnshire and is single carriageway for almost its entirety. The road is approximately long...
near Horncastle. It originally terminated at the Canwick Road junction, then was extended to the west.
For many years the two main roads through Lincoln were the A46 and A15; there were no other main roads, and they both passed along the High Street. At the intersection of Guildhall Street and the High Street, these two roads met the A57, where it terminated. North of the city centre, the former route of the A15, Riseholme
Riseholme, Lincolnshire
Riseholme is a small village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about a mile north of the city of Lincoln.In addition to the village, Riseholme is the site of the rural science campus of the University of Lincoln , and the home of Riseholme College, the University of Lincoln's...
Road is the B1226, and that of the A46, Nettleham
Nettleham
Nettleham is a large village and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:It is located four miles north-east of the city of Lincoln between the A46 and A158, and has a total resident population of 6,514....
Road, is the B1182. The early northern inner ring-road, formed of Yarborough Road and Yarborough Crescent was originally the B1193, then an A road for many years, the A1102, from the mid-1930s and after the bypass was built, this distributor road became the B1273.
The western distributor road Tritton Road, named after the designer of the tank Sir William Tritton
William Tritton
Sir William Ashbee Tritton, M.I.Mech.E., J.P. was an expert in agricultural machinery, and was directly involved, together with Major Walter Gordon Wilson, in the development of the tank...
, was built as the A1180. When the bypass was built in 1986 Tritton Road became the B1003. For many years after Tritton Road was built it terminated at Ropewalk, with volumes of traffic leading to either Brayford Wharf or St Mark Street and the High Street
High Street, Lincoln
-References:*-External links:* * , the county's best known newspaper is based in Lincoln...
. When the University was built, the area needed to be accessed from the west leading to Brayford Way being built over the Foss Dyke. This has eased Lincoln's transport infrastructure because the High Street and Brayford Wharf both have level crossings over the railway, whereas Brayford Way has a much-needed bridge. Brayford Way was originally part of the plans for Tritton Road well before the University was built, but the bridge over the railway to Carholme Road (A57) was strongly opposed by residents on Yarborough Crescent who did not wish it to become a rat run.
For many decades Lincoln was barely connected to the UK trunk road network until the A46 to Newark was remodelled as the dual carriageway Newark to Lincoln Improvement in July 2003 at a cost of £28 million, which has made the city more accessible, built by Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in London. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll...
, with the contract awarded on 2 November 2001. Lincoln has its own bypass problems, however, funding for the A15 eastern bypass was reviewed in 2006 by the East Midlands Regional Assembly
East Midlands Regional Assembly
The East Midlands Regional Assembly was a regional assembly for the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom.It was based at Melton.-History:...
, the bypass being postponed for several years with it unlikely to be built before 2016.
Higher education
Lincoln has two higher education institutions, the older being Bishop Grosseteste University College, which started life as a teacher training college linked to the Anglican Church in 1862. During the 1990s, the college branched out into new subject areas with a focus on the arts and drama. Bishop Grosseteste College as it was became a University College in 2006 when it was awarded taught degree powers, meaning that students graduate with degrees from BGUC and not the University of LeicesterUniversity of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
as previously. A graduation celebration takes place every year in Lincoln Cathedral. Bishop Grosseteste University College has no links with the University of Lincoln.
The larger University of Lincoln
University of Lincoln
The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
started life as the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in 1996, when the University of Humberside opened a Lincoln campus next to Brayford Pool
Brayford Pool
The Brayford Pool is a natural lake formed from a widening of the River Witham in the centre of the city of Lincoln in England. It was used as a port by the Romans - who connected it to the River Trent by constructing the Foss Dyke - and has a long industrial heritage.-History:The Pool has been the...
, attracting additional students to the city. Lincoln Art College (which was Lincolnshire's main outlet for higher education) and Riseholme Agricultural College, which had previously been part of De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, were absorbed into the University in 2001, and subsequently the Lincoln campus took priority over the Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
campus.
Most buildings were built after 2001. The university changed its name to the University of Lincoln in September 2002. In the 2005/6 academic year, 8,292 full time undergraduates were studying at the university. Around 2002 there was considerable local annoyance with students' residences in the West End area. This subsided with vast numbers of student flats being built next to the Foss Dyke
Foss Dyke
The Foss Dyke, or Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use. It is usually thought to have been built around 120 AD by the Romans, but there is no consensus among authors...
and Brayford Way B1273 bridge. Student life has resulted in the building of the Engine Shed
Engine Shed (theatre)
The Engine Shed is a music and entertainment venue in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England and part of the University of Lincoln.-History:It was opened in September 2006 and takes its name from the locomotive shed that used to lie in its current location, immediately adjacent to the railway line to...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
complex on Brayford Wharf East.
Further education
Further education courses in Lincoln are provided by Lincoln CollegeLincoln College, Lincolnshire
Lincoln College is a predominantly further education college based in the City of Lincoln, England.-Admissions:The college's main is on Monks Road , specifically to the north, and to the south of Lindum Hill .-Satellite sites:...
, which is the largest education institution in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, with 18,500 students, of whom 2,300 are full time. Also, Lincoln has an Access To Music branch, situated above Pulse and Ritzy, on Flaxengate.
Schools
The school system in Lincoln is anomalous within Lincolnshire despite being part of the same local education authorityLocal Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
, as most of Lincolnshire retained the grammar school system. Other areas near Lincoln, such as North Hykeham, Branston
Branston, Lincolnshire
Branston is a large village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, approximately south-east of Lincoln.In the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 4019.-Geography:...
and Cherry Willingham
Cherry Willingham
Cherry Willingham is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies approximately four miles outside the city of Lincoln. Neighbouring villages are Reepham, Nettleham and Fiskerton....
, also have comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
s.
In 1952, William Farr School
William Farr School
William Farr Church of England Comprehensive School, generallyknown as William Farr School or just William Farr , is a Church of England comprehensive school in Dunholme, though the postal address places the school in Welton, five miles north-east of Lincoln...
was founded in Welton, a nearby village. Lincoln itself had four single-sex grammar schools until September 1974. In 1994 Lincolnshire County Council proposed to convert the City School on Skellingthorpe Road into a grammar school, but opinions expressed by some parents caused a reversal of policy.
Since 1992 The Priory Academy LSST, created an Academy in 2008 and using selection tests for entrance, receives A level results better than five Lincolnshire grammar schools.
In 2008 the Priory Federation of Academies was formed when The Priory Academy LSST absorbed Joseph Ruston School (formerly Ancaster High School) and Usher Junior School and was renamed The Priory Witham Academy, and The Priory City of Lincoln Academy.
Lincoln as a district historically came the lowest in the county for average GCSE results, although has improved in recent years. South Kesteven
South Kesteven
South Kesteven is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. It covers Grantham, Stamford, Bourne and Market Deeping.-History:...
and West Lindsey
West Lindsey
West Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England.-History:The district was formed on 1 April 1974, from the urban districts of Gainsborough, Market Rasen, along with Caistor Rural District, Gainsborough Rural District and Welton Rural District...
get the best results.
Media
The local newspaper is the Lincolnshire EchoLincolnshire Echo
The Lincolnshire Echo is a morning daily British regional newspaper for Lincolnshire, founded in 1894, which is published Monday to Saturday. It is owned by Northcliffe Newspapers. The main area for the paper's distribution is in or around Lincoln....
, which was founded in 1894. Local radio stations are BBC Lincolnshire on 94.9FM, its commercial rival Lincs FM
Lincs FM
Lincs FM is an Independent Local Radio station serving Lincolnshire and Newark, from the Humber to The Wash. It is the current holder of the licence which was advertised by the Radio Authority on 4 March 1991.-Background:...
on 102.2FM and Lincoln City Radio on 103.6FM a community radio station catering primarliy for people aged over 50 years. The Lincolnite is the online and mobile publication covering the greater Lincoln area. Local listeners can also tune into Siren FM
Siren FM
Siren FM, sometimes known simply as Siren, is a community radio station based at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. It broadcasts to the city of Lincoln on 107.3 FM and at its website, .-History:...
, which broadcasts on 107.3FM from the University of Lincoln
University of Lincoln
The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
Student publications The Linc and Bullet are available both online and in print, and target the University Of Lincoln's
University of Lincoln
The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
growing student population.
BBC Look North
BBC Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)
BBC Look North is the BBC's regional TV news service for East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, north Norfolk and northeast Cambridgeshire produced by BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire...
have a bureau in Lincoln as an integral part of their coverage of Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. There are three TV reporters based in Lincoln serving both BBC Look North and East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for its East Midlands region, which covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, and the Grantham and Stamford areas of Lincolnshire....
.
Other local media outlets include Bailgate Independent, Love Lincoln and Lincolnista.
Sport
Lincoln has a professional football team, Lincoln City F.C.Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
, nicknamed 'The Imps', which plays at the Sincil Bank
Sincil Bank
Sincil Bank is a football stadium in Lincoln, England and has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since the club's 1884 inception. Sincil Bank has an overall capacity of 10,120 and is colloquially known to fans as "The...
stadium on the southern edge of the city. The collapse of ITV Digital
ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...
, which owed Lincoln City FC more than £100,000, in 2002 saw the team faced with bankruptcy but it was saved after a massive fund-raising venture by the fans that returned ownership of the club to them where it has remained since. The club was famously the first team to be relegated from the English Football League, when automatic relegation to the Football Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...
was introduced from the 1986–87 season. Lincoln City regained its league place at the first attempt and has held onto it until the 2010–11 season when they were once again relegated to the Football Conference. Their most successful era was arguably in the early 1980s; they won promotion from the Fourth Division in 1981 and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division in the two years that followed.http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/LINCOLNC.HTM
Lincoln City were notably the first club managed by Graham Taylor, who managed the English national football team from 1990 to 1993. He was at Lincoln City from 1972 to 1977, during which time the club won promotion from the Fourth Division as champions in 1976 – The club also won the Football League Division Three North title on three separate occasions, a joint record.
Lincoln Ladies F.C. ('The Lady Imps'), as members of the FA WSL, are one of the top eight women's football
Women's football in England
While women's football has been played in England for over a century, it has only been in the 1990s that the game has seen a large increase in female players, as well as in female spectators, culminating in England hosting the Women's European Championships in 2005....
clubs in England.
Lincoln is also home to Lincoln United F.C, Lincoln Moorlands Railway F.C. and Lincoln Griffins Ladies F.C..
Lincoln also hosts upcoming sports team the Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls
Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls
The Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls are Lincoln's first and original Roller Derby team located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. Established in 2008, by captain and founder She'za Payne, the team has grown rapidly, paying its first competitive season in 2009...
. A fast upcoming female Roller Derby team, competing across the country and in Europe. The bombers are a self funded non for profit team helping pave the way for UK Roller Derby across the country.
Notable citizens
- Kelly AdamsKelly AdamsKelly Adams is an English actress.A pupil of North Kesteven School in North Hykeham, Adams trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in Wood Green, London....
– television and film actress, was born in Lincoln in 1979 - George BooleGeorge BooleGeorge Boole was an English mathematician and philosopher.As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science. Boole said,...
– mathematician and developer of Boolean logic, born in Lincoln in 1815 - Jim BroadbentJim BroadbentJames "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
– OscarAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning actor who was born in Wickenby in 1949 - Mark ByfordMark ByfordMark Byford was Deputy Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation and head of BBC Journalism from 2004-2011. He chaired the BBC Journalism Board and had overall responsibility for the world’s largest and most trusted news organisation, and all its radio, television and interactive...
– BBC Deputy Director-General, went to Lincoln School - William ByrdWilliam ByrdWilliam Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
– A famous Renaissance composer and organist who resided near the Cathedral. - Lee ChapmanLee ChapmanLee Chapman is an English former footballer who scored almost 200 first-team goals as a striker. He was best known for his spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United...
– former footballer who scored more than 200 first-team goals as a strikerStrikerForwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
, was born in Lincoln - Daniel CoxDaniel CoxDaniel Cox , is a British tennis player.Daniel, whilst playing tennis for Lancashire, first came into international prominence when he reached the finals of Le Petit As, Tarbes...
– British juniors tennis player was born in the city in 1990 - Peter DayPeter Day (broadcaster)-Early life:He attended Lincoln School, at the time a boys-only grammar school, from 1957-64 as a boarder. His father was a manager with Midland Bank in Lincolnshire . He studied English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford....
– BBC broadcaster went to Lincoln School - Jane EaglenJane EaglenJane Eaglen is an English dramatic soprano particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner and the title roles in Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Turandot.-Background:...
– opera singer was born in the city in 1962 - James FentonJames FentonJames Martin Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry.-Life and career:...
– poet, journalist and literary critic, born in the city in 1949 - Sheila GishSheila GishSheila Gish was a British stage and television actress.She was born Sheila Anne Gash in Lincoln, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made her stage debut with a repertory company....
– RADARadaRada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
actress, including roles in HighlanderHighlander (film)Highlander is a 1986 fantasy action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based on a story by Gregory Widen. It stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart. The film depicts the climax of an ages-old battle between immortal warriors, depicted through interwoven past and... - Darrell HairDarrell HairDarrell Bruce Hair is an Australian former Test match cricket umpire, from New South Wales. He stood on the Emirates International panel of umpires from 2002 to 2003, before he, along with fellow Australian Simon Taufel, and New Zealander Billy Bowden, was appointed to the ICC Elite umpire panel...
– former international cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
umpire who recently was stood down after a ball tamperingBall tamperingIn the sport of cricket, ball tampering is an action in which a fielder illegally alters the condition of the ball. Under Law 42, subsection 3 of the Laws of Cricket, the ball may be polished without the use of an artificial substance, may be dried with a towel if it is wet, and have mud removed...
dispute with the Pakistan cricket team. He lives just outside the city, in Nettleham - Marion Rose HalpennyMarion Rose HalpennyMarion Rose Halpenny is an equestrian writer and horsewoman, born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, and known as the Lincolnshire turf authoress, who has written a number of articles and books on racing, but is mainly known for her pioneering book British Racing and Racecourses, which was the first book of...
– equestrianEquestrianismEquestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
writerWriterA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and horsewomanEquestrianismEquestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
known for her pioneering book British Racing and RacecoursesBritish Racing and RacecoursesBritish Racing and Racecourses published in 1971 with a first print run of 10,000, was written by the female equestrian writer, Marion Rose Halpenny, and was the first book with general all round racecourse information, precise definitions of terms used to describe track surfaces, with plans of...
, was born in Lincoln - Alex HenshawAlex HenshawAlexander Adolphus Dumfries Henshaw MBE was a British air racer in the 1930s and a test pilot for Vickers Armstrong in the Second World War.-Early life:...
– Spitfire chief test pilot, went to Lincoln School - John HurtJohn HurtJohn Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
– actor, went to Lincoln School - Jonathan KerriganJonathan KerriganJonathan Kerrigan is an English actor well known for his portrayal of gay nurse Sam Colloby in the BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City, and as police officers in the series Merseybeat and Heartbeat....
- television, film and stage actor, is from Lincoln - John de LacyDe Lacyde Lacy is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy . The first records are about Hugh de Lacy . Descendent of Hugh de Lacy left Normandy and travelled to England along with William the Conqueror. Walter and Ilbert de Lacy fought in the battle of Hastings...
1192 – July 22, 1240, son of Roger, became Earl of Lincoln - Sir Neville MarrinerNeville MarrinerSir Neville Marriner is an English conductor and violinist.-Biography:Marriner was born in Lincoln and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He played the violin in the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Martin String Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, playing with the...
- conductor who arranged and conducted the music for the film AmadeusAmadeus (film)Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
, was born in Lincoln. He attended Lincoln SchoolLincoln Christ's Hospital SchoolLincoln Christ's Hospital School is a state comprehensive school for 11-18 year olds located on Wragby Road in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.-Admissions:Its student population is just under 1400, including over 300 in the sixth form...
from 1935-42 - Paul PalmerPaul Palmer (swimmer)Paul Palmer is a former international freestyle swimmer for England and Great Britain.Coached by Ian Turner at the City of Lincoln Pentaqua Swimming Club, Palmer qualified for the 200 m, 400 m and 1500 m freestyle at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, finishing a respectable 9th position ...
– swimmer, born in Lincoln, who won the silver medal in the 400 metres Freestyle at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (also a former pupil of Lincoln Christ's Hospital School) - Allison PearsonAllison PearsonAllison Pearson is a Welsh author and newspaper columnist. Her novel I Don't Know How She Does It, published in 2002, has sold four million copies and has been made into a movie of the same name starring Sarah Jessica Parker...
– newspaper columnist, went to Lincoln Christ's Hospital School - Steve RaceSteve RaceStephen Russell Race OBE was a British composer, pianist and radio and television presenter.-Biography:Born in Lincoln, the son of a lawyer, Race learned the piano from the age of five...
– radio broadcaster and host of Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme My Music from 1967–93, was born in Lincoln. He attended Lincoln School from 1932-39 - Alfred Tennyson – Poet LaureatePoet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
of the United Kingdom after William WordsworthWilliam WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
and one of the most popular English poets, was born in SomersbySomersby, LincolnshireSomersby is a village in the parish of Greetham with Somersby in the Lincolnshire Wolds, northwest of Spilsby and eastnortheast of Horncastle. The parish covers about .- History :...
Twin towns
Port Lincoln, AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
Tangshan
Tangshan
"唐山"redirects here. For an alternative name of China, see Names of China#TangTangshan is a largely industrial prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed at least...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
, Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Radomsko
Radomsko
Radomsko is a town in central Poland with 50,618 inhabitants . It is situated on the Radomka river in the Łódź Voivodeship , having previously been in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship . It is the capital of Radomsko County....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Attractions
- EmpowermentEmpowerment (sculpture)Empowerment is a public sculpture in the centre of the city of Lincoln in England.Designed by the artist Stephen Broadbent, sponsored by Alstom Power , and completed in 2002, the sculpture spans the River Witham in Lincoln's City Square. It takes the form of two aluminium-and-steel human figures...
- Jew's HouseJew's HouseThe Jew's House is one of the earliest extant town houses in England. It lies on Steep Hill in Lincoln, immediately below Jew's Court.Dating from the mid-twelfth century, the building originally consisted of a hall at first floor level, measuring approximately 12 by 6 metres, above service and...
- Jew's CourtJew's CourtJews' Court is the Oldest synagogue in the British Isles. A Norman building on Steep Hill in Lincoln, immediately above Jew's House, it is dated to between 1150 and 1180...
- Lincoln ArboretumLincoln ArboretumThe Lincoln Arboretum is an park in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The park has two ponds and varied tree cover, and was designed and laid out between 1870 and 1872 by the celebrated Victorian gardener Edward Milner...
- Lincoln CastleLincoln CastleLincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
- Lincoln CathedralLincoln CathedralLincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
- Lincoln City F.C.Lincoln City F.C.Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
- Lincoln ImpLincoln ImpThe Lincoln Imp is the symbol of the City of Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, England.According to a 14th-century legend two mischievous creatures called imps were sent by Satan to do evil work on Earth. After causing mayhem in Northern England, the two imps headed to Lincoln Cathedral...
- Museum of Lincolnshire LifeMuseum of Lincolnshire LifeThe Museum of Lincolnshire Life is a museum in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in the UK. The museum collection is a varied social history that reflects and celebrates the culture of Lincolnshire and its people from 1750 to the present day...
- Newport ArchNewport ArchNewport Arch is the name given to the remains of a 3rd century Roman gate in the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. It is reputedly the oldest arch in the United Kingdom still used by traffic.- History :...
- Steep HillSteep HillSteep Hill is a popular tourist street in the historic city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.At the top of the hill is the entrance to Lincoln Cathedral and at the bottom is Well Lane.The Hill consists of independent shops, tea rooms and pubs....
- The Collection (Lincolnshire)The Collection (Lincolnshire)The Collection is the county museum and gallery for Lincolnshire in England. It is an amalgamation of the Usher Gallery and the City and County Museum in such a way that they can work more effectively together than hitherto...
- The Sir Joseph Banks ConservatoryThe Sir Joseph Banks ConservatoryThe Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England is named after the British explorer and naturalist who, as long-time president of the Royal Society, became known for his promotion of science.-About the Conservatory:...
at The Lawn, LincolnThe Lawn, LincolnThe Lawn, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England is a notable Greek revival building constructed as a psychiatric hospital which now operates as a catering hall.... - Usher GalleryThe Collection (Lincolnshire)The Collection is the county museum and gallery for Lincolnshire in England. It is an amalgamation of the Usher Gallery and the City and County Museum in such a way that they can work more effectively together than hitherto...
Places
- Boultham, Lincoln
- Engine ShedEngine Shed (theatre)The Engine Shed is a music and entertainment venue in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England and part of the University of Lincoln.-History:It was opened in September 2006 and takes its name from the locomotive shed that used to lie in its current location, immediately adjacent to the railway line to...
- Golden Eagle, LincolnGolden Eagle, LincolnThe Golden Eagle public house is an old coaching house, on the High Street of the historic city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.-History:The Golden Eagle is a brick built, cream painted old coaching house built in 1726 on the Roman High Street of Lincoln with former stable yard. During the 1750s...
- Hartsholme Country ParkHartsholme Country ParkHartsholme Country Park lies about southwest of the city centre of Lincoln in the East Midlands of England.Hartsholme Country Park covers more than and was designated in 1974 and opened in 1979. It contains a camping area for tents, caravans and motor caravans, lakes and ornamental grounds...
- High Street, LincolnHigh Street, Lincoln-References:*-External links:* * , the county's best known newspaper is based in Lincoln...
- Lincoln Drill HallLincoln Drill HallLincoln Drill Hall is a recently refurbished and modernised entertainment venue in the British city of Lincoln. Its main auditorium has a maximum capacity of around 500 and it has hosted various bands - Buzzcocks, The Damned, Stiff Little Fingers and The Subways being notable examples. It also acts...
- Lincoln Medieval Bishop's PalaceLincoln Medieval Bishop's PalaceLincoln Medieval Bishop's Palace is an historic visitor's attraction in the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. When it was first built, in the late 12th century, it was one of the grandest residential structures in England and the administrative center of the vast Diocese of Lincoln, which stretched...
- Lincoln Performing Arts CentreLincoln Performing Arts CentreThe Lincoln Performing Arts Centre is a 446-seat multi-purpose auditorium, designed for live arts performances, conferences, and film screenings, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, and part of the University of Lincoln.-History:...
- Lincoln RacecourseLincoln RacecourseLincoln Racecourse is a former horse racing venue to the west of the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. It was the original location of the Lincoln Handicap. The course closed in 1965 and the race relocated to Doncaster Racecourse....
- St. Catherines, LincolnSt. Catherines, LincolnSt. Catherine's is an area of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, at the end of the High Street and centred around a roundabout on the junction of the B1262 High Street with the A15, B1190 and South Park Avenue . The area is bordered by the South Common in the east and the River Witham in the west.-St...
- Steep HillSteep HillSteep Hill is a popular tourist street in the historic city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.At the top of the hill is the entrance to Lincoln Cathedral and at the bottom is Well Lane.The Hill consists of independent shops, tea rooms and pubs....
- University of LincolnUniversity of LincolnThe University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
- Bishop Grosseteste University College
People
- Aaron of LincolnAaron of LincolnAaron of Lincoln was an English Jewish financier . He is believed to have been the wealthiest man in 12th century Britain; it is estimated that his wealth exceeded that of the King. He is first mentioned in the English pipe-roll of 1166 as creditor of King Henry II for sums amounting to £616 12s...
- Hugh of LincolnHugh of LincolnHugh of Lincoln was at the time of the Reformation the best-known English saint after Thomas Becket.-Life:...
- Little Saint Hugh of LincolnLittle Saint Hugh of LincolnHugh of Lincoln was an English boy, whose death prompted a blood libel with ramifications that reach until today. Hugh is known as Little Saint Hugh to distinguish him from Saint Hugh, otherwise Hugh of Lincoln. The style is often corrupted to Little Sir Hugh...