‘I have always held and
proposed against all comers to maintain that the Cathedral of Lincoln is out
and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles’.
John Ruskin
We had, a
couple of years back, pressed the pause button on our journey round the
cathedrals of England. Although, to date thirty have been called on, drawn and
comments made by Siân in each one’s Pitkin Guide. I had started on a book bringing all the
drawings together.
However, unvisited
were Christchurch Oxford, Guildford (both close) and Lincoln.
Decision
made, Lincoln first. The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We arrived
without Ruskin’s comment, which I discovered later.
Almost completely shrouded in
builders’ polythene some of the lovely Norman west façade was clear to see, the
original Lincoln, many of the rounded arches of the doors and niches survive.
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| Wonderful Choir Screen at Lincoln - just showing off! |
Inside,
after £16.00, was a broad nave gave off to short transepts.
The biggest
imprint on my mind will remain the Choir Screen. Gorgeous, pale, honey coloured
stone with early English-decorated carvings would have easily won the masonry
X-Factor final.
Completed between 1290 and 1330 this screen separates the Choir from the
rest of the place. Its intricate carvings still bear traces of blue and red,
silver and gold.
Trivia fact: The
cathedral was used for the filming of The
Da Vinci Code filming mainly took place mainly within the cloisters, and
chapter house which is impressive with its ten-sided central pillar.
Another Lincoln
treat is the font, second half of the 1100s. It is made from a black
carboniferous limestone sourced in Tournai, France. However finished by
waxing and polishing gives it the appearance of black marble! Top tip.
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| Norman Font stands sentinel as we enter Lincolm |
Ruskin
was right about most things. He went on to add “And roughly speaking worth
any two other cathedrals we have’
