A VISIT INSIDE LINCOLN CATHEDRAL & CASTLE

Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to another episode. Today I am back in Lincoln. I'm so glad that you all enjoyed last week's episode where I took you around the city. I had intended to take you inside the cathedral but I ran out of time. I had to get back and pick Heidi up and I know a lot of you left comments saying you wish you could have seen inside. So today I'm here with a little midweek episode and I'm going to take you inside so you can have a good look around. I've just discovered that the Christopher Wren Library is closed. Oh, I was hoping to take you inside. There are two libraries here at Lincoln Cathedral. Both of them unfortunately are closed as the room that they are in is currently undergoing structural work and repairs, extensive repairs apparently. So I won't be able to take you in there today unfortunately. Although something that I wasn't expecting today is to find Luke Jerram's awe-inspiring installation, Gaia, which you can see behind me. It's really, really impressive. So the cathedral was built in 1072 and it's one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in England. Victorian writer John Ruskin was once quoted as saying, out and out it is the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and it's worthy of any two other cathedrals. The cloisters are always my favourite parts of any cathedral. They're so ornate and I love all the natural light that flows in. So here is the entrance for the libraries, although we can't go up, but on here you can just see an image of what the Wren Library looks like. There is also the Medieval Library which looks like this. Unfortunately both out of bounds for today. So this is the ten-sided chapter house which was begun in the 1220s. It's where the chapter and the choir would meet every morning after first service. Isn't it stunning? This one pillar in the middle. Can you see the way this wall plants inwards? Translates the second pillar just here. It's really bending in. I am in absolute love with the craftsmanship and the skill and the knowledge required to build so detailed and innately. It's absolutely phenomenal. So, so, so, so stunning. Right, I have finished inside the cathedral and I've still got a little bit of time, so I am going to take you around the wall walk of Lincoln Castle. So I am up on the wall now and look at this view of Lincoln Cathedral. It's absolutely incredible and you kind of get a glimpse of just how big it is. It's towering over all of the other buildings and they're not small. Most of them are three storeys. As I said in my last video, this was once the tallest building in the world for over two centuries and that was due to its spire, an absolute mammoth spire, 160 metres tall. It was higher than the Great Pyramid in Giza. Now, having been to the Great Pyramids, I honestly would never have believed that this was taller, but there we go. Now, I did mention in my last video, but I'll mention it again, seeing as we're actually inside the castle now, over the thousand year history of Lincoln Castle, during that time, it was once a court and it was once a jail. This building in front of us was the Georgian jail. So I'm taking you inside the 12th century observation tower. That's a funny little sign. I'm starting to feel my age. Oh, 1,000 years. Please don't cross the barrier while I'm being assessed and repaired. Doing well to say this is 12th century. I have just climbed the tiniest little narrow staircase up. I don't even know how many flights, I'm a little bit out of breath, but the views up here are amazing. We've got the cathedral, which leads on to some stunning views. There we are, even higher. So the base that I was just on was 12th century. Then they added this really tall tower so that you could see even further into the surrounding landscape. Now that was built by the Georgian convicts, which were in the jail below. But you could see, look, for miles and miles, you would see all your enemies coming. You could see why William the Conqueror built his castle here. So below you can see the wall. So this is the wall that we're walking around now. Below we have the jail and castle at the back. You can just see for miles. This is spectacular. You can also see the prison wall a bit better from up here. So there is the tower that we've just been up. So as I say, this part is 12th century, and then this tower was built later by the prisoners of this Georgian prison here. So to give you a little bit more history, William the Conqueror was the man behind this castle. He built the first castle on this site. Originally in this area, there would have been 160-odd Anglo-Saxon dwellings, which were all torn down to make way for William's castle. So a big mound was built, which you can see ahead. This is called Lucy Tower. But on this massive mound or motte, this is where the original timber keep would have been. And then below in the bailey is where all the kitchens and the servants would have been. So we are now entering Lucy Tower. So this is the site where the original timber tower would have been replaced by this brick one. You can see all the square holes in the wall where timber beams would have been. Right then, that is the end of this week's short but sweet midweek episode. I hope you have enjoyed seeing inside the cathedral and a little snippet of inside the castle. I will see you on Sunday as usual. Have a great end of the week!