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Lincoln (pronounced /lɪŋkən/) is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of around 87,000 - the 2001 census gave the entire urban area of Lincoln a population of 101,779, including Birchwood, North Hykeham, and Waddington. [1]. The council identifies a 'Greater Lincoln' catchment area covering many surrounding towns and villages, which has a population of 250,000. [2]
HistoryEarliest history: LindonImage:BrayfordPool.jpg The Brayford Pool The earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to the remains of an Iron Age settlement of round wooden dwellings (which were discovered by archaeologists in 1972) that have been dated to the 1st century BC. This settlement was built by a deep pool (the modern Brayford Pool) in the River Witham at the foot of a large hill (on which the Normans later built Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle). The origins of the name Lincoln probably come from this period, when the settlement is speculated to have been named in the Brythonic language of the Celtic people as either Lindu, Lindo or Lindun, (or possibly Lindon or Lindunon), a name believed to describe either the Brayford Pool itself, 'dark pool' (Lindu) or possibly an early settlement nearby, 'fort on a hill by a pool' (Lindun) [4]. Whatever the origin of this early name it is known that it was subsequently Latinised in the Roman period to Lindum (or Lindum Colonia), which in Anglo-Saxon became Lincoln, the modern name of the city. It is not possible to know how big this original settlement was as its remains are now buried deep beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins, as well as the modern city of Lincoln. Roman history: Lindum Colonia
The conversion to a colonia was made when the legion moved on to York (Eboracum) in AD 71. Lindum colonia or more fully, Colonia Domitiana Lindensium, after its founder Domitian, was established within the walls of the hilltop fortress with the addition of an extension of about equal area, down the hillside to the waterside below. It became a major flourishing settlement, accessible from the sea both through the River Trent and through the River Witham, and was even the provincial capital of Flavia Caesariensis when the province of Britannia Inferior was subdivided in the early 4th century, but then it and its waterways fell into decline. By the close of the 5th century the city was largely deserted, although some occupation continued under a Praefectus Civitatis for Saint Paulinus visited a man of this office in Lincoln in AD 629. AD 410 - 1066Image:Lincoln-BrayfordPool.jpg Lincoln Cathedral, atop Steep Hill, as seen from across the Brayford Pool Image:Lincoln Cathedral.jpg The Norman West Front of Lincoln Cathedral After the first destructive Viking raids the city once again rose to some importance. In Viking times Lincoln was a trading centre important enough to issue coins from its own mint. After the establishment of Dane Law in 886, Lincoln became one of The Five Boroughs in the East Midlands. Over the next few centuries, Lincoln once again rose to prominence. In 1068, two years after the Norman Conquest, William I ordered Lincoln Castle to be built on the site of the former Roman settlement, for the same strategic reasons and using the same road. Cathedral
The first Lincoln Cathedral, within its close or walled precinct facing the castle, was commenced when the see was removed from Dorchester and completed in 1092; it was rebuilt after a fire but was destroyed by an unusual earthquake in 1185. The rebuilt Lincoln Minster, enlarged to the east at each rebuilding, was on a magnificent scale, its crossing tower crowned by a spire reputed to have been 160 m (525 feet) high, the highest in Europe. When completed the central of the three spires is widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt as the tallest man-made structure in the world.
The bishops of Lincoln were among the magnates of medieval England: Lincolnshire, the largest diocese, had more monasteries than the rest of England put together, and the diocese was supported by large estates outside the county. When the Magna Carta was drawn up in 1215, one of the witnesses was Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln. A copy is now preserved in Lincoln Castle. Among the most famous bishops of Lincoln were Robert Bloet, the magnificent justiciar to Henry I; Hugh of Avalon, the cathedral builder canonised as St Hugh of Lincoln; Robert Grosseteste, the 13th century intellectual; Henry, Cardinal Beaufort, a politician deeply involved in the Wars of the Roses; Philip Repyngdon, chaplain to Henry IV of England and defender of Wycliffe; Thomas Cardinal Wolsey. Image:Lincolncath.jpg The iconic view of Lincoln Cathedral The administrative centre was the Bishop's Palace, the third element in the central complex. When it was built in the late 12th century, the Bishop's Palace was one of the most important buildings in England. Built by the canonised bishop Hugh of Lincoln, the palace's East Hall range over a vaulted under-croft is the earliest surviving example of a roofed domestic hall. The chapel range and entrance tower were built by Bishop William of Alnwick, who modernised the palace in the 1430s. Both Henry VIII and James I were guests of bishops here; the palace was sacked by royalist troops during the Civil War in 1648. Medieval townBy 1150, Lincoln was amongst the wealthiest towns in England. The basis of the economy was cloth and wool, exported to Flanders; Lincoln weavers had set up a guild in 1130 to produce Lincoln Cloth, especially the fine dyed "scarlet" and "green" the reputation of which was later enhanced by Robin Hood wearing "Lincoln Green". In the Guildhall that surmounts a city gate, the ancient Council Chamber contains Lincoln's civic insignia, probably the finest collection of civic regalia outside London. Outside the precincts of cathedral and castle, the old quarter clustered around the Bailgate, and down Steep Hill to the High Bridge, which bears half-timbered housing, with the upper stories jutting out over the river, as London Bridge once had. There are three ancient churches: St Mary le Wigford and St Peter at Gowts are both 11th century in origin and St Mary Magdalene, built in the late 13th century, is an unusual English dedication to the saint whose cult was coming greatly into vogue on the European continent at that time. Lincoln was home to one of the five most important Jewish communities in England, well established before it was officially noted in 1154. In 1190, anti-semitic riots that started in King's Lynn, Norfolk, spread to Lincoln; the Jewish community took refuge with royal officials, but their habitations were plundered. The so-called "House of Aaron" has a two-storey street frontage that is essentially 12th century and a nearby Jew's House likewise bears witness to the Jewish population. In 1255, the affair called “The Libel of Lincoln” in which prominent Jews of Lincoln, accused of the ritual murder of a Christian boy ("Little St Hugh of Lincoln" in medieval folklore) were sent to the Tower of London and 18 were executed. The Jews were expelled en masse in 1290. During the 13th century, Lincoln was the third largest city in England and was a favourite of more than one king. It also became caught up in the strife between the king and the rebel barons who had allied with the French, which was an ongoing result on the baron rebellion against King John. It was here and at Dover that the French+rebel army was defeated. However, during the 14th century, the city's fortunes began to decline. The lower city was prone to flooding, becoming increasingly isolated, and plagues were common. In 1409, the city was made a county corporate. 16th centuryThe Dissolution of the Monasteries further exacerbated Lincoln's problems, cutting off the main source of diocesan income and drying up the network of patronage controlled by the bishop, with no less than seven monasteries within the city alone closed down. This was accompanied by closure of a number of nearby parliamentary abbeys which led to a further diminishment of the region's political power. When the cathedral's great spire rotted and collapsed in 1549 and was not replaced, it was a significant symbol of Lincoln's economic and political decline. However, the comparative poverty of post-medieval Lincoln preserved pre-medieval structures that would probably have been lost in more prosperous contexts. The Civil WarImage:Exchequer Gate.jpg The west front of Lincoln Cathedral viewed through the Exchequer Gate, one of a number of surviving gates in the Cathedral Close walls. The Georgian AgeBy the Georgian era, Lincoln's fortunes began to pick up, thanks in part to the Agricultural Revolution. The re-opening of the Foss Dyke allowed coal and other raw materials vital to industry to be more easily brought into the city. The Industrial RevolutionCoupled with the arrival of the railway links, Lincoln boomed again during the Industrial Revolution, and several world-famous companies arose, such as Ruston's, Smith-Clayton's, Proctor's, and William Foster's. Lincoln began to excel in heavy engineering, building diesel engine trains, steam shovels, and all manner of heavy machinery. The 20th centuryLincoln was hit by a major typhoid epidemic between November 1904 and August 1905, caused by polluted drinking water from Hartsholme Lake and the River Witham. Over 1000 people contracted the disease and fatalities totalled 113 (ironically including the very man responsible for the city's water supply). Westgate Water Tower was constructed to provide new water supplies to the city. An episode of Top gear was also filmed in the lucy tower car park and around the city itself. In the world wars Lincoln naturally switched to war production. The first ever tanks were invented, designed and built in Lincoln by William Foster & Co. Ltd during the First World War and population growth provided more workers for even greater expansion. The tanks were tested on land which is now Tritton Road. During the Second World War, Lincoln produced a vast array of war goods, from tanks, aircraft, munitions, and military vehicles. Ruston and Hornsby produced diesel engines for ships and locomotives, then by teaming up with former colleagues of Frank Whittle and Power Jets Ltd, in the early 1950s, R & H (which became RGT) opened the first ever production line to build gas turbine engines for land-based & sea-based energy production. Hugely successful, it has become the largest single employer in the city providing over 5,000 jobs in its factory and research facilities making it a rich takeover target for industrial conglomerates. They were taken over by GEC in the late 1960s (diesel engine production was transferred to a division of GEC in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire), merged with Alstom of France in the late 1980s, then in 2003 were bought out by Siemens AG of Germany, now being called Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery. In the post-war years after 1945, new suburbs were built, but heavy industry has declined towards the end of the 20th century mimicking the wider economic profile of the United Kingdom. More people are still employed today in Lincoln however building gas turbines than anything else. Economy
Lincoln's economy is based mainly on public administration, commerce, arable farming and tourism. TourismImage:IMG 3744.jpg The Stonebow, a 15th Century guildhall on Lincoln's High Street. Image:Steep Hill.jpg A view up 'Steep Hill' towards the historic quarter of Bailgate. Other attractions include the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. Tranquil destinations close by include Whisby Nature Reserve and Hartsholme Park, whilst noisier entertainment can be found at Waddington airfield, Scampton airfield (base of the RAF's "Red Arrows" jet aerobatic team), the County Showground or the Cadwell Park motor racing circuit near Louth. Because of its climate Lincoln attracts many of its tourists in the summer, but also during the second weekend of December when the Bailgate area of the city holds its annual Christmas Market in and around the Castle grounds. Following the construction of the music venue, the Engine Shed, in October 2006, a number of rock bands such as The Zutons, The Charlaltans and Babyshambles have played to "sold out" audiences. Railway crossing controversyImage:Lincoln-high-street-level-crossing.redvers.jpg The railway crossing on the High Street. The increase of rail traffic on the East Coast Main Line following its electrification in the late 1980s (which also caused Lincoln's direct daily passenger service to and from London, King's Cross to be discontinued) has led to many of the goods trains running between Doncaster and Peterborough being diverted through Lincoln. This coupled with goods traffic between the Midlands and the ports and oil refineries in the Grimsby, Immingham and Killingholme area and local passenger services operating in and out of Lincoln Central railway station, has led to the High Street level crossing (which cuts the central shopping area in two) being closed for up to forty minutes every hour. The city's MP and the Chamber of Commerce have suggested that this may be deterring inward investment by new employers [5]. This has been an issue in Lincoln since the 1860s according to Hansard records. EducationLincoln has two higher education institutions, the older being Bishop Grosseteste University College, which started life as a teacher training college linked to the Anglican Church in 1862. During the 1990s, the college branched out into new subject areas with a focus on the arts and drama. The larger University of Lincoln started life as the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in 1996, when the University of Humberside opened a Lincoln campus next to Brayford Pool attracting additional students to the city and giving it a refreshing youthful appearance. Lincoln Art College and Riseholme Agricultural College, which had previously been part of De Montfort University in Leicester, were absorbed into the university in 2001, and subsequently the Lincoln campus took priority over the Hull campus. The university changed its name to the University of Lincoln in 2002. In the 2005/6 academic year, 8,292 full time undergraduates were studying at the university [6]. Further education courses in Lincoln are provided by Lincoln College, which is the largest education institution in Lincolnshire, with 18,500 students, of whom 2,300 are full time [7]. MediaThe local newspaper is the Lincolnshire Echo, and the local radio stations are Radio Lincolnshire on 94.9FM and its commercial rival Lincs FM on 102.2 FM. Siren FM, a new community radio station broadcasting within the city of Lincoln and a thirty mile radius is due to launch in April 2007. SportLincoln has its own football team, Lincoln City F.C., nicknamed "The Imps" who play at the Sincil Bank stadium on the southern edge of the city. The collapse of ITV Digital who owed Lincoln City FC more than £100,000 in 2002 saw the team faced with bankruptcy but the team was saved after a massive fundraising venture by the fans that returned ownership of the club to them where it has remained since. The club was famously the first team to be relegated from the English Football League, when automatic relegation to the Football Conference was introduced from the 1986-87 season. Lincoln City regained their league place at the first attempt and have held onto it since. Lincoln City has a female counterpart, Lincoln City L.F.C. ("The Lady Imps") Lincoln is also home to Lincoln United F.C and Lincoln Moorlands F.C. and Lincoln Griffins Ladies F.C.. Famous citizens
Twin townsSee also
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