A jolliday in Lincoln. Part 2

Lincoln Castle is a fascinating place. It was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068. It is a place of Kings and Convicts.  Henry VIII and Catherine Howard visited here in 1541 and stayed at the Bishop's Palace, where so many Kings also stayed.  It is said that during their visit to Lincoln Catherine met with Thomas Culpepper and their fates were sealed, both would be executed a year later.

It is now possible to walk the full length of the medieval curtain walls.  This gives a fine view of the town and an impressive view of the cathedral. One of the towers, known as Cobb Hall, held the dungeons for condemned prisoners. They would be taken to the top of the tower and there publicly hanged.

 The executed prisoners, both men and women, were buried by Lucy Tower, in unconsecrated ground. Their graves can still be seen.

The Victorian prison is a very interesting place. You can wander around the cells and get a true feel for life within these wall. Here, they practised a separation system, where prisoners were kept isolated from the corrupting influence of their fellows. This was even applied in the chapel, where each prisoner was kept out of sight of any other. It still has an austere and atmospheric feel to it.

From here we went on to see an original Magna Carta, which is kept at the castle. However, we were to be disappointed. The document cannot be kept on view all the time. It obviously needs to be carefully tended and protected. It was explained to us that it had gone for a much needed rest in a darkened room. I know the feeling!

Unfortunately, I was not able to visit the Bishop's Palace either, as it was closed for restoration.

A jolliday in Lincoln 1

Lincoln is one of my favourite cities to visit. It's not too far, probably about an hour and half - two hours, depending on traffic. W were blessed with lovely weather on the day. We headed towards the cathedral for our first port of call.

I always make a point of visiting Katherine Swynford's tomb when I'm there. She was an amazing woman, first the mistress of John of Gaunt and then his wife, it is from her that most of our royal family and those of the continent are descended.
She is the great grandmother of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. Her brother in law was Geoffrey Chaucer, of Canterbury Tales fame.

The cathedral was looking beautiful as the sun streamed in through the stained glass windows and threw colourful patterns on the floor and pillars.

 An interesting place, often over looked, is the cathedral library.  This was built by the then Dean of Lincoln, Michael Honywood. He commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to design it, It is one of the only two Wren libraries still in existence.

 Honywood bequeathed his five thousand books to his library, many of them originals, and they are still there. This includes one of the 250 surviving manuscripts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
After spending some considerable time here we moved on to the castle.