Lincoln: 5 Things to See in an Afternoon

I took a Saturday afternoon trip to Lincoln a while back and it got me thinking. What would I recommend to a first time visitor to Lincoln? So, here's my list of 5 things you can see in Lincoln in an afternoon. Or a day if you don't walk ridiculously quick like I do!

1. The Collection

The Collection is a free museum just off Lincoln's famous Steep Hill. It houses a permanent collection of artefacts from the city's long history from the Stone Age through to almost the present day. In addition, it often hosts special exhibitions which are worth checking out - recent ones have included Lincolnshire's Great Exhibition displaying objects from important Lincolnshire moments and associated with more well known residents such as Sir John Franklin and Matthew Flinders.

If you're short on time, I'd suggest checking out the special exhibition if there is one and then these highlights from the Collection itself. The ancient dugout canoe from Fiskerton:

The Roman Mosaic found when they were building the lift shaft.

This beautiful piece of Viking metalwork.

A facsimile copy of the famous Lutrell Psalter.

And this awesome plesiosaur fossil, which I think is the specimen described HERE. 

2. Mediaeval Bishop's Palace

Tucked away to one side of the towering cathedral, the remains of the Bishop's Palace are a quiet retreat from the busy streets outside its walls. You can wander round it in about half an hour (I know, I've done it), but it's worth taking your time. Information boards are few and far between, so you should consider picking up the audio guide as well.

Basically, just wander round and enjoy the quiet for a while.

3. Lincoln Castle

The Castle is probably the most popular attraction in the city, but it's still worth a visit. The grounds are free to enter, but I'd at least take a walk around the walls - there's some amazing views out across the city and surrounding countryside from up there.

The absolute must-see at the Castle though, if you've any interest in history at all, is the Magna Carta Vault. The Castle is home to one of just four surviving copies of this historic important document and the Vault, opened in 2015, is its new home. So go and pore over the tiny writing and don't miss the two short films either.

4. The Guildhall

Lincoln's stunning Guildhall is still used for full council meetings and houses a great collection of objects, including an assortment of ceremonial swords, trophies and weird little oddments. Guided tours run on Fridays and Saturdays and are a great way to find out more not just about the Guildhall but also about the city's history.

You can find the Guildhall on the High Street - just look out for the big stone arch (the Stonebow) over the road. There's a big old door to one side and on tour days there should be a sign outside.

5. Steep Hill

Along the High Street you can find plenty of your typical, well, high street stores. But take a walk up the hill and you can find a whole host of little independent stores. This is the area called Steep Hill. It is, in fact, a steep hill.

There's an excellent tea shop (as in a shop that sells tea, not a cafe),  some cool little cafes but my favourite has to be Goodies Sweet Shop. This is tucked into the narrow lane that joins Steep Hill to the High Street and is a brilliant little old-fashioned place.

If you want to avoid the really steep section (identified by the lovely green hand rail and a bench to rest on at the top), you can cut away from the hill onto a couple of lanes that will bring you out either side of the steep bit.

Honourable Mention: The Cathedral

I haven't been into Lincoln Cathedral for years, so I can't comment on what the tours are like nowadays. If you just want to pop in and have a look around though, I recommend looking for the following: the Lincoln Imp, remnants of the paint which used to cover most of the stonework and the little statues that got their heads shot off by Roundheads during the Civil War. If you can get someone to tell you what's wrong with the statues, even better.

What are your favourite places in Lincoln? Are there any hidden gems to seek out?

Lincoln: Sunshine, history & museum etiquette

Took a little Sunday afternoon trip to Lincoln with my dad and sister at the weekend, seeing as how the weather decided to stay nice for a change and we needed some fresh air. We headed straight for the castle, having not been in it for, by my sister's reckoning, about 15 years (discounting those awful few times at the Christmas Market where you couldn't actually see the craft stalls because the crowd was so big you just had to go with it...)

Having been asked by the cashier if we wanted adult or child tickets (neither me nor sister having been child price for years) we headed up onto the walls to make the most of the sunshine before the rain inevitably set in. Some gorgeous views from up there (and some great little info boards) plus they were ringing the bells at the cathedral which is just across the way.

Having last properly visited the castle when I was still at primary school it was really rather nice to have a wander round the walls again, although like all things you revisit from your youth, I could have sworn the walls were bigger and took longer to walk when I last went.

On the plus side, because it's so long since we'd visited, the Lucy Tower was open again - my sister seems to recall it was closed to the public because it was falling down or something last time. So here's the inside of the tower and the graves of hanged prisoners buried within it.

Cheerful. The last bit of our wall walk was a trip up an incredibly narrow spiral staircase to the top of the Observatory Tower. Not sure I've ever been up such a narrow one. Indeed, my sister's a bellringer and has been up loads of the damn things and even she thought it was a bit tight. Anyhoo, there's some even more amazing views from the top of this tower - all the way out to the Belmont transmitting station out on the Wolds.

Wall walk completed, we headed into the old Victorian gaol to check out the newest attraction at the castle. Lincoln's had a copy of Magna Carta since the very beginning 800 years ago. Impressive, given that there's only 4 surviving copies of those original ones. So, of course, this being the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, Lincoln Castle has got itself a brand new Magna Carta Vault to display its treasured copy in, plus a copy of the Charter of the Forest issued around the same time. Alongside this there's a small cinema showing films to explain the history and impact that Magna Carta has had not only on Britain but on other nations and laws around the world.

I love this sort of stuff and I can't really remember having seen Magna Carta when I last went to the castle, so getting the chance to see it sounded pretty damn cool to me. Of course, there's a hell of a lot of other people who obviously wanted to see it too. Some of whom seemed to have no sense of what I like to call "museum etiquette". The first of which is "don't ignore the signs that say no photography". The second of which is "don't just shove in front of people to get a better view because those people are trying to have a look too, you ignorant little shit".

OK, so let's just say the display room isn't very big, there were a lot of people in it and I don't take kindly to people looking at me, deciding I'm not important and then standing directly in front of me when it was clear that I was trying to drink in the history. Fuck you, dickhead.

So I didn't get as good a look at Magna Carta as I might have liked, or the Charter of the Forest which I'd not even heard of up until then. The cinematic display was brilliant though - awesome graphics and detailed enough to keep me interested without (hopefully) boring those who weren't after too much depth.

Offense over lack of museum etiquette subsided, we headed into the gaol proper, including some little displays of artefacts uncovered during the construction of the Magna Carta Vault alongside more of life in the 30 years the gaol operated.

Got to say though, still my favourite and yet most feared place in the castle is the prison chapel. This is what it looks like from the pulpit.

See those mannequins? Scared the crap out of me as a kid and they're still bloody creepy now. Oh, and you see how there are partitions between each of the creepy ass mannequins? Part of something called the separate system, which effectively meant limiting contact between prisoners so they'd think on their sins and wouldn't rub off bad habits on each other. Claustrophobic as anything, as my sister kindly demonstrated.

Woo, out of focus photos. This is what happens when you try to take a photo over the top of a partition and you're too short to see the screen of your phone. Yay.

Anyway, creepy ass mannequins abandoned to their sermon, we had a quick wander around the grounds and then departed the castle in search of fluids, it being rather hot and us being rather dehydrated. Drinks got delayed when Amy wanted a photo taking with this dude.

There's a trail of these guys all the way round Lincoln to celebrate... commemorate... oh, whatever - they're to do with the 25 barons involved in making King John sign Magna Carta. We've already decided that we're going to have to go back and find them all. So far we've got these 3, plus one I forgot to take a pic of and 1 we spotted out the back of the castle.

All in all, a nice summer afternoon trip. Such fun...

More info on Lincoln Castle: http://www.lincolncastle.com/
More info about the Lincoln Barons' Charter Trail: http://www.lincolnbarons.com/
More info about the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary events: http://magnacarta800th.com/