Cathedral Church of St Mary and Cloisters and Chapter House and Libraries, Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Description

LINCOLN

SK9771NE MINSTER YARD
1941-1/9/224 Cathedral Church of St Mary,
08/10/53 cloisters, chapter house and
libraries

GV I

Cathedral church with attached cloisters, chapter house and
libraries.
Established c1072-1092 by Bishop Remigius. Restored and
extended following a fire, 1123-1148, for Bishop Alexander.
Remodelled c1180-1200 by Richard the Mason and Geoffrey de
Noiers for St Hugh of Avalon. Transepts extended and completed
c1230-1235 by Michael "magister operis". Crossing tower
rebuilt c1240 by master mason Alexander, and heightened
1307-1311 by Richard of Stow. Angel Choir added 1256-1280,
probably by Simon de Tresk. Cloisters c1290-1300. Chapter
house C13. Song school early C13. Galilee porch, west of south
transept, mid C13. Cantelupe Chantry 1355, Fleming chantry
1431 by John Porter, Russell chantry 1494, Langland chantry
c1547 by William Kitchin. Old Library c1422. Honywood Library,
north of cloister, 1674, by Sir Christopher Wren, with
contemporary bookcases. Rooms under west towers c1730 by James
Gibbs. Dean Wickham Library 1909-1914 by Hodgson Fowler. Major
restorations by James Gibbs, 1725, James Essex, 1761, J C
Buckler, mid C19, J L Pearson, 1870-1893, Sir Charles
Nicholson and Sir Francis Fox, 1921. Spires removed from
towers, 1807.
Dressed stone and ashlar, with lead roofs.
Romanesque, Early English, Perpendicular and Tudor Revival
styles. Latin Cross plan.
EXTERIOR: nave with aisles, major and minor transepts, morning
chapel, Galilee porch, choir and angel choir, 4 chantries,
cloister with library above, chapter house, former library,
now cafe.
West end, 5 bays, has blind arcade. Elaborate central gable
and corner turrets topped with octagonal spires. 3 graduated
Romanesque doorways flanked by niches. Over them, an
outstanding C12 frieze of biblical scenes.
Above, two towers, 2 stages, with octagonal corner turrets,
Decorated bell stage openings and traceried parapets.
Nave, 7 bays, has flying buttresses and an arcaded clerestory.
Buttressed aisles have single lancet windows flanked by blind
arches.
North-west morning chapel and corresponding former Consistory
Court, 4 bays, have each 4 single lancets.

Major transepts, 3 bays, have to east, ranges of chapels and
flying buttresses. North and south gables have outstanding
traceried round windows, C13 and early C14.
Cruciform Galilee porch, c1240, has a vaulted interior and
ornate restored doorways.
St Hugh's choir and aisles, 5 bays, has flying buttresses,
single and double lancet windows, and an arcaded clerestory.
Crossing tower, 3 stages, has octagonal corner turrets topped
with spires, and a crocketed traceried balustrade. Arcaded
lower stages, and bell stage with 2 openings on each side,
below ornamented gables.
Eastern minor transepts have spire-topped buttresses
throughout.
To south-west, song school, early C13, 2 bays.
To north-east, a chapel remodelled in 1772 by James Essex.
Angel choir, 1256-1280, 5 bays, has north and south aisles and
flying buttresses throughout. Aisles have elaborately carved
off-centre portals, remodelled late C14. Arcaded clerestory
has 4-light windows on each side. East end has blind arcading,
buttresses with spires, and a crocketed gable. East window has
Geometrical tracery with 2 groups of 4 lights. Above it, a
5-light pointed arched window. North side has attached Fleming
chantry, c1431, and south side has Russell chantry, c1494, and
Longland chantry, c1547, all Perpendicular style with 3-light
windows.
Chapter house, mid C13, decagonal, has 8 freestanding flying
buttresses, quatrefoil frieze and pyramidal roof. In each
segment headed bay, a 2-light pointed arched window. Entrance
passage, to west, has 2 flanking stair towers with saddleback
gables.
Cloister, 1296, 9 x 14 bays, has traceried unglazed arcades on
3 sides and an unusual wooden rib vault. To south-east, a
vaulted arcaded vestibule. North side has a Tuscan arcade, 9
bays, and above it the Honywood library with 11 cross casement
windows, the central one with cornice on brackets.
To east, a single timber framed bay of the Old Library, c1422.
To east again, Dean Wickham library, 2 storeys.
INTERIOR has vaulted west porches with C14 blind arcading, and
wall cladding and doorways c1730 by James Gibbs. Central
opening to nave, C13, has a strainer arch with balustrade,
1761, by James Essex.
Morning chapel has rib vault and a central pier.
Former Consistory Court has a similar unsupported vault. Both
have arcaded screen walls.
Nave, 7 bays, has arcades of clustered piers of varying
design, with stiff-leaf capitals. Gallery has 2 multi-shafted
triple arches per bay. Clerestory has multiple shafts. Moulded
arches throughout. Tierceron vault, c1233.

Aisles have blind arcades with detached shafts and rib vaults.
Main crossing piers have Purbeck shafts and stiff-leaf
capitals. Lierne vault, late C14.
Major transepts have eastern arcades, 3 bays, with stone or
wood screens, some of them reproductions. East walls have
syncopated blind arcading attributed to Geoffrey de Noiers.
Each aisle has to east 3 vaulted chapels. Both transepts have
multiple shafted galleries and clerestories, and rib vaults.
South gable has a round window with a double tiered filigree
surround.
St Hugh's choir, 4 bays, has rectangular piers with clustered
shafts and crocket capitals, and multiple shafted openings
throughout. Unique asymmetrical rib vault. Aisle outer walls
have syncopated blind arcading and rib vaults. Western screen
has crest and central doorway with a crocketed ogee gable,
flanked on either side by 4 gabled vaulted niches. Beyond,
single multiple shafted doorways.
Eastern minor transepts have syncopated blind arcading and
vaulted east chapels with simpler blind arcading.
Angel choir, 5 bays, 1255-1280, has north and south aisles.
Clustered piers, alternately of limestone and Purbeck marble.
Gallery has 2 double traceried arches in each bay, with
noteworthy sculptured angels in the spandrels. Clerestory
windows have an unglazed inner screen mirroring the window
tracery. Rib vault with noteworthy foliate and figure bosses
to choir and aisles.
Chapter house has blind arcading and a central round pier with
ringed shafts, and a lierne vault with moulded ribs and
bosses. Entrance passage has blind arcading and rib vault,
with moulded west doorway flanked by single recesses.
FITTINGS include a rare Tournai marble font, C12, with 4
shafts to a square bowl with a relief of beasts. Easter
sepulchre, 6 bays, c1290.
St Hugh's choir, has wooden stalls, 3 tiers, 1365, restored
late C19.
Traceried panelled fronts, misericords and elbow rests to the
2 upper tiers, spired canopies above. Brass eagle lectern
1667, by W Burroughs. Large wooden pulpit 1708, from St Mary's
Church, Rotterdam, with curved stair and sounding board.
Gothick mahogany pulpit, c1760. Canopied pulpit, 1863, by Sir
G Scott.
STAINED GLASS: both angel choir aisles have C13 stained glass,
possibly resited from the nave aisles. North transept rose
window has C13 coloured and grisaille glass. Below, a C14
stained glass window. South transept rose window has stained
glass fragments, C12, C13 and C14. C13 medallions in the
windows below. North-east transept has a gable window, 1762,
by W Peckitt. Nave south aisle and west end have stained glass

1861, by the Revs. Sutton, 1854, by Hedgeland, and 1860 by
Clayton & Bell. North aisle has mid C19 glass by Ward &
Hughes. South-east transept has stained glass, mid C19, by the
Suttons and by Hedgeland.
MEMORIALS include an inscribed Tournai marble slab c1140, to
Remigius, and part of the shrine of St Hugh, early C14, with
canopied niches. Chest tombs c1340 with figure carving and
single effigy, to Robert Burghersh and Bishop Burghersh.
Canopied chest tomb with effigy, 1355, to Lord Burghersh.
Cantelupe chantry has a chest tomb with effigies, under an
ogee arched canopy, to Lord Cantelupe, 1355, and Prior
Wymbysh, 1461. Katharine Swynford's chantry has tomb chests
1410 and 1440, under a lozenge-panelled four centred arched
canopy. Early cadaver tomb with vaulted canopy, 1425, to
Bishop Fleming. Perpendicular style chest tomb with crested
back wall, 1538, to Sir George Tailboys. Pedimented tablet,
1681, to Dean Honywood, and tablet with bust, 1699, to Dean
Fuller. Chest tomb and effigy, 1857, to Bishop Kaye by R
Westmacott. Canopied chest tomb with effigy, 1885, to Bishop
Wordsworth by Bodley & Garner. Seated bronze figure, 1913, to
Bishop King, by W B Richmond.
(Buildings of England : Lincolnshire: Pevsner N: Lincolnshire:
London: 1989-: 444-482; Bony J: The English Decorated style;
Harvey J: English Cathedrals; Duke DH: Lincoln Cathedral
Guide: Lincoln: 1982-; Binnall, Rev. PG: C19 stained glass in
Lincoln Minster).

Listing NGR: SK9779671808

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