Lincoln Castle is unusual in having two keeps and a complete curtain wall,
and its highly strategic position has given it a continuing historical importance. The site of battles and sieges and some complicated medieval wheeling and dealing, it is also a major centre of administration and justice, containing a former prison building and a working Crown Court. And it houses one of the four surviving exemplars from 1215 of that crucial document, Magna Carta.*
The great stone curtain wall which is still one of the most dramatic features of the castle today was constructed on top of an earth rampart to encircle the inner bailey of the 12th-century castle, and was in turn surrounded by a rock-cut ditch. One of the triumphs of the Lincoln Castle Revealed project has been the creation of a complete Wall Walk, and this in turn has allowed a certain amount of archaeological investigation of the structure of the whole curtain wall, although it has been much restored and rebuilt over the centuries. The south wall still retains the remnant of a medieval parapet on its northern face, and a 13th-century sally port door can be seen halfway along the north wall. The west wall forms one of the most impressive stretches, with large areas of herringbone masonry, suggesting a late 11th-century or early 12th-century construction.*
*Lincoln Castle guide book – Scala Arts & Heritage Publisher Ltd 2015
Tags: Lincoln, Lincoln Castle, Wall Walk, Weekend away
Located at the cathedral end of Castle Hill, this is where tenants who rented property from the church came to pay their rents. A chequered cloth was used to aide the counting of the rent monies, and it is from the alternating black and white pattern of the cloth that we get the word ‘Exchequer’. The gate was built in the 14th century, and probably acted as the main, ceremonial access point to the Cathedral close.
To call this lovely building a ‘gate’ does not convey a sense of how grand the structure really is. There are actually three gates, or passages through Exchequer Gate to the cathedral precinct; two smaller postern gates flank a pointed central arch, vaulted with brick. Octagonal turrets flank the central arch, and the whole structure is topped with battlements.
Above the arches are two further floors of rooms, which were at one time let as dwellings. The origin of the building is uncertain, but tradition holds that it was constructed during the reign of Edward I.
Tags: Cathedral, Exchequer Gate, Lincoln, Weekend away
A very short distance from the east end of Lincoln Cathedral stands Priory Gate, which marks the location of one of the old medieval gates that gave access to the cathedral close. The current gateway, surmounted with battlements as if it still served a defensive purpose, straddles the north end of Pottergate.
It is a Victorian structure replacement for the medieval gates on this site. A similar gateway arch stands at the south end of Pottergate, and Exchequer Gate, a true medieval survivor, stands near the cathedral west front
Tags: Lincoln, Priory Gate, Weekend away
This arch, built in the 3rd century AD, is the most famous and best preserved of all Lincoln’s Roman monuments. Through this gate legions left the upper city to begin their march north to York along Ermine Street. You can get a better idea of the level of the Roman road by looking at the level of the path that goes through the pedestrian arch.*
It is the only surviving Roman gate in Britain open to traffic, acting as a gateway to the historic core of the city, as it has done for almost two millennia.
The north gate was built in the early 3rd century and spanned Ermine Street, the colonia’s most important thoroughfare. This was also the main London to York road.
In the 4th century, the colonia’s defensive walls and gates were massively strengthened, in line with its status as a new provincial capital and centre of Roman civilisation. At its grandest, the north gate consisted of a central carriageway with pedestrian arches to either side, topped by an upper storey and flanked by tall semi-circlular towers.
What is visible above the road today is only the upper section of the central arch from the inner wall of the gate. The outer wall was demolished in the 1700s. The base of the western gate tower can be seen in the excavation, which also shows the Roman street level. In Roman times, the whole structure would have stood about 8 metres (26 feet) above ground.
The gate did not, as far as we know, face serious attack whilst under Roman control. However it has survived numerous assaults since, from medieval knights in the 13th century to delivery lorries in the 20th. Because of recent vehicle damage, steel pins have been inserted to hold the masonry in place.**
The damage that the lorry caused in 1964. Repairs cost £1595. - image from signboard next to the gate
*From Pitkin Lincoln City Guidebook
**From a signboard next to the gate
Tags: Lincoln, Newport Arch, Roman Gateway, Weekend away
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
Lao Tzu
Tags: Cherie's Place Thought, Dudmaston, National Trust
…Easter Monday
For the second day running breakfast was not being served in the Garden room but in the same room as the previous day. The experience was a lot less chaotic but when my scrambled eggs turned up they were rather overcooked. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and put our cases in the car before visiting The Medieval Bishops’ palace that is situated next to The Old Palace Hotel.
As we got in the car to leave Lincoln the Cathedral bell struck the hour of 11 O’Clock reminding me that I would miss hearing them sound. We intended to visit a Civil War exhibition in Newark but we arrived to find the museum was not complete and didn’t open until May. So instead we headed off to Kedleston Hall for lunch and a tour of the house. After this we continued on our journey home, stopping at Tesco on the way to pick up something for an evening meal. When I got home I was reminded that I had forgotten to take a picture of the Easter Cross outside the parish church so I grabbed my camera to rectify the situation.
Tags: English Heritage, Kedleston Hall, Lincoln, National Trust, The Easter Cross, The Medieval Bishops' Palace, The Old Palace Hotel, Weekend away
…Easter Day
I was awoken by the sound of crockery crashing to the floor in the corridor outside the room. I dismissed that idea and decided the staff were being noisy tidying up the crockery trolley I had seen on the landing the previous evening. I went back to sleep and the next sound I heard was the 7 O’Clock chime of the Cathedral’s hour bell.
When we arrived for breakfast in the Garden room and found it empty we made our way to reception to ask where breakfast was being served and we were told it was being served on the first floor just around the corner from our room. The breakfast room was rather chaotic because one member of staff had phoned in sick. We sat down at a table and found that the breakfast buffet was far from complete. One of the missing items was orange juice so Mr C asked the waiter for some. The waiter promptly brought a fresh supply only for Mr C to find there were no glasses to put it in! Whilst chatting to one of the breakfast staff I found out the reason for the loud early morning crash of crockery. When they tried to move the trolley loaded with crockery in order to lay the breakfast tables, the leg fell off and the pots fell to the floor…
We managed to get through breakfast in plenty of time to attend the Easter Morning ‘Sung Eucharist’ service in the Cathedral and as we left our chaotic breakfast experience, the sound of the Cathedral bells could be heard, heralding the Easter Morning service. Peace was restored.
The service was lovely and at times quite moving. At the end of the service, as the procession walked up the central isle we noticed that all the young choristers were holding a chocolate Easter bunny and as we turned to leave the Cathedral we were struck by the sight of both front doors of the Cathedral opened wide. As I left I shook hands with the Bishop and walked out into brilliant sunshine which was a welcome contrast to the cloudy weather of the past couple of days.
We made our way to Doddington Hall and Gardens for lunch. Because it was a bank holiday weekend, the cafe was full so we picked up lunch from the farm shop and ate outdoors in a picnic area. After lunch we did a tour of the grounds and hall and also the nearby St Peter’s Church, all of which was very nice.
On returning to the hotel we found that the faulty light bulbs that we had reported in the morning had still not been fixed! After the case of the missing towels the previous day I was quite adamant that they would be fixed so I reported them again before we left for a brief walk in the Cathedral quarter, enjoying seeing the Cathedral in the sunshine. When we returned to the hotel to freshen up before dinner the bulbs had been replaced 
We did not make the best choice of venue for an evening meal but that was rectified by a nightcap in the Wig & Mitre
Tags: Doddington Hall & Gardens, Easter, Eucharist, Lincoln, Lincoln Cathedral, Weekend away
