Lincoln Cathedral, England

Lincoln is a cathedral city in the county of Lincolnshire, East Midlands, England, built on a limestone escarpment above the River Witham and home to about 100,000 people. Its historic core occupies the old Roman fortress of Lindum Colonia, later expanded by Viking traders and prosperous medieval wool merchants.

At the summit of the ridge overlooking the town stands Lincoln Cathedral, begun in 1072, shortly after the Norman Conquest and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1185. Its central spire made it the tallest structure in the world for nearly 240 years before its collapse.

The cathedral still dominates the uphill quarter of the city of Bailgate, Castle Square and Steep Hill. And yes, it really is a steep walk up to the cathedral and the old town area — well worth the effort!

We visited on a wet day in July 2023 when there was a science fair in the Nave and much of the cathedral wasn’t accessible. I appreciated having such a modern event inside the medieval nave though, as it showed the central place of the cathedral still remains in the life of the city.

We entered through Exchequer Gate, the 14th‑century triple‑arched gateway that opens from Castle Square into the cathedral close.

A biblical narrative frieze stretches across the west front. The most heavily weathered originals were replaced with hand‑carved replicas in 2001 and the sculptures moved indoors for protection.

Part of the frieze shows a ‘doomscape’ with demons torturing sinners for lust, avarice and greed. It sits above the north‑west doorway of Lincoln Cathedral’s West Front. This section is a 2001 replica of the original 12th century Romanesque frieze carved by cathedral masons after the weather‑beaten originals were moved indoors for safekeeping.

This section is 12th‑century, just to the left of the south‑west doorway, and shows Noah’s Ark, and Daniel in the Lion’s Den.

Lincoln has teams dedicated to preservation across departments of Stonemasonry and Conservation; Glazing; Carpentry/Joinery; Leadwork; and Domus (Engineering and Maintenance). You can even Sponsor a Stonemason to help with the renovations.

The nave, begun in the mid 1230s, is an example of early English Gothic architecture. The first thing I do in cathedrals is stand at the back and take a picture down the nave. I love Gothic ribbed ceilings!

Here’s a side view of the nave.

There are two rose windows. The Dean’s Eye rose window in the north‑west transept.

The Bishop’s Eye rose window faces it in the south.

In between the transepts, the nave and the quire, is the crossing. Always look up!

The high altar.

Legend has it that two of Satan’s imps were sent to cause chaos in the cathedral. One was turned to stone by an angel and can still be seen high up in the Angel Choir. There’s a button you can press to light it up as it’s really small and quite high up. In the photo below, it’s the spotlighted little figure in the centre. You can see a close-up here on Wikimedia.

On the opposite side of the Angel Choir from the imp is a modern Marian shrine, Our Lady of Lincoln. It was set up in 2014 after almost five centuries without a Marian image. Carved by Orthodox icon‑maker Aidan Hart, dedicated on 31 May 2014 (Feast of the Visitation), it shows Mary, enthroned and robed in Romanesque‑folded drapery, holding a mandorla (almond-shaped frame) containing the Christ Child blessing the world‑sphere. The inscription on the plinth reads “The Word was made flesh.”

I love finding smaller elements of beauty in cathedrals, like the wings of this angel on a tomb.

Housed within the cathedral is a magnificent library designed by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren. It contains a collection of over 10,000 rare and ancient books. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open for visitors on the day we were there.

Much of the cathedral is grand and imposing, so I enjoyed the contrast of this simple side chapel with its over-sized wooden cross.

For a real sense of memento mori, you can’t beat a cadaver tomb, where the corpse is shown under the effigy of the newly dead. This is the tomb of Bishop Richard Fleming (d. 1431), founder of Lincoln College, Oxford and bishop here from 1420.

The upper effigy shows him in full pontifical vestments, one gloved hand raised in blessing, while the lower recess holds a shrouded corpse to remind onlookers of life’s brevity. Carved soon after his death, it is the earliest surviving English transi (memento‑mori) tomb and stands in Fleming’s chantry on the north side of St Hugh’s Choir.

The cathedral’s polygonal Chapter House, with its impressive central pillar and vaulted ceiling, was a meeting place for the cathedral’s governing body and is a masterpiece of medieval architecture.

I love an ancient door! This one leads to the Chapter House.

The cloisters are unusual. Instead of stone, the bays are roofed with oak boarding pierced by sandstone ribs; only a handful of English cloisters (Lincoln is the earliest) experiment with this hybrid structure. About 60 of the original 100 carved wooden bosses still survive overhead.

One of the darker aspects of Lincoln Cathedral is the Shrine of Little Hugh and the blood libel against the medieval Jews of Lincoln.

From the sign displayed next to the monument: “Fictional ‘ritual murder’ accusations by Christians against Jews began in England in the 12th century and then spread to the Continent. In 1255, a Lincoln boy called Hugh was found dead and the city’s long-established Jewish community was accused of murdering him. As a result, 92 Jews were imprisoned in the Tower of London and 18 were hanged for a crime they did not commit … This libel against the Jews is a shameful example of religious and racial hatred, which, continuing down through the ages, violently divides many people in the present day. Let us unite, here, in a prayer for an end to bigotry, prejudice and persecution.”

Given the UK Government just released a report in July 2025 noting that “anti-Semitism is normalised in middle-class Britain,” (as reported in The Telegraph) it seems that more than 800 years hasn’t changed much in human nature.

Little Hugh is a different character to St. Hugh of Lincoln (St. Hugh of Avalon), who was the Bishop of Lincoln from 1186 to 1200. He was famed for his piety, holiness, and courage in standing up to English kings. His greatest achievement was beginning the major rebuilding of Lincoln Cathedral in the new Gothic style after it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1185. He was officially made a saint (canonized) by the Pope in 1220, and his shrine in the Angel Choir was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in medieval England.

It was a wonderful visit to Lincoln Cathedral, definitely a must see if you are in the city.

Books set in Lincoln and around the cathedral

• Lincoln Cathedral: The Biography of a Great Building — Jonathan Foyle. An architectural historian walks bay‑by‑bay through the fabric, explaining how each campaign—from Norman core to Angel Choir—reflects shifts in politics, technology and theology.
• On Cold Ground — D.S. Butler. A scream shatters the silence of Lincoln Cathedral and DI Hart finds her latest murder case beneath its vaults.
• The Haunted Cathedral — Antony Barone Kolenc. A middle‑grade historical adventure in which orphan Xan must unravel ghostly goings‑on inside 13th‑century Lincoln Cathedral.